We Will Run So Far Together
by klikeszombies
Summary: Santana and Brittany take over the running of a daycare. While they never meant to stay in Lima, they never imagined needing to flee. Now they're running for their lives.
1. Chapter 1

**AN: Oh man this one's long. I doubt all the chapters will be this long but I had a lot of story to set up. I had a weird dream, that's where this idea comes from. Let me know what you think please, I really appreciate it. I hope you like reading it as much as I liked writing it so far. This entire story is planned out already. So updates will hopefully come pretty quick.**

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><p>They weren't ever meant to come back to Lima, Ohio. They graduated, they managed to make it out, and it wasn't ever in the plan for them to come back. But plans change. And unfortunately, loved ones die. What you don't think about when you're younger, even when you take the minute to consider that some day your parents might die, they don't tell you that while their lives end, everything they've built up doesn't. Brittany's mother passed, quite suddenly, from a brain aneurism. It was terrible and Brittany is certain without Santana she wouldn't have made it through her mother's passing. She spent so many nights crying in Santana's arms, letting her be all of her strength. When Santana's parents had passed in a car accident when they were still in college, she had broken down exactly once. The night after the funeral she spent the entire night gasping for air on the bathroom floor, Brittany wrapped around her. The blonde had considered taking her to the hospital, possibly calling 911, it was that terrifying, but she didn't. Her decision ultimately came down to the fact that she couldn't reach her phone without getting up and going in the other room and she was positive, with the way that Santana was clutching to her, if she let go, Santana might fall apart. And if nothing else, they will always keep each other together.<p>

They were best friends when they were kids, and that never went away. Even still, at twenty-five, they're still best friends. They're just also a lot more. Things started to change when they started to experiment around fourteen. They experimented with boys and the predominant emotion attached to that was jealousy (although it might have taken them a few years to understand that is what it was). They wrote it off as being easy to kiss each other, and then touch each other, because they were always together. It was practice. It was practice until the night that Santana lost her virginity to a boy that was a little to rough, and didn't remember her name afterwards. After that it became making love. A few more boys came and went for both of them. It was always awkward and not passionate and Santana would lay underneath them and wonder how it was that Brittany seemed to do everything right, how she could make her come so hard it would take her several minutes to even begin to form a coherent thought that wasn't "please hold me tighter." That was another thing; intimacy never bothered her when it came in the form of Brittany. Brittany was for kissing, and holding, and loving. Boys were for popularity, and image. Boys were for everyone else, Brittany was for her. Brittany always felt the same way except that she understood maybe a little earlier that the boys were the least necessary part of the equation. But she stayed patient with Santana, because she knew that they were forever, and everything else was just detail. They'd get there eventually. And her patience paid off.

One night, it was March and it was raining, she remembers so clearly. She knew that Santana was out with a boy, and she just figured Santana would be there when they were done, like she always was. Her mom called and told her that she'd be staying late to take care of things at the daycare center. This wasn't at all abnormal. It was just her mom and her, her dad having left the picture before she was born, and her mom never found time to meet anyone after that so no siblings. So Brittany put on a movie, and laid on the couch knowing that Santana would be there at some point, but the later it got, the less sure she was. She sent a few texts with no response, and eventually fell asleep on the couch slightly worried about why Santana wasn't answering her. Santana always always answered. At around two in the morning, someone knocked on the door loud enough to wake her. She looked through the peephole and saw Santana shivering on the porch, soaking wet, mascara running down her face, in just a dress that barely covered anything. Brittany threw open the door and pulled Santana into her arms. She let Santana cry for a few minutes before pulling away just slightly to look into her eyes begging for an explanation.

"Britt I had the most stupid evening. Nothing terrible happened. It's just… I went on a date with Kyle. And we went to the movies and he didn't bother asking me what I wanted to see, or if I minded seeing what he wanted to see, and then we stopped at a party for a little bit so people could see him with me, and then we went back to his place. Again, he didn't even ask me if I wanted to, he just took me. He started taking off my dress and reaching for a condom and it suddenly occurred to me that I fucking hate this. I hate this fucking game we play with the boys and I don't care if I become a social pariah or whatever but it's like it just hit me that….I could just love you. Fuck school. Fuck what anyone else has to say. I love you."

Their lips crashed together. And while this was certainly not the first time Santana had ever told her that she loved her, it was the first time that she ever came to the conclusion that their love was more important than social standing. And she came to that conclusion all on her own. That was junior year of high school, and they'd been together since.

They went off to college together, more or less. Santana went to school for English, and got a few teaching certificates while she was there. Brittany went to dance. Nobody ever thought Brittany could make it through college, but with Santana's help, she did. She originally went to dance, because that was all she'd ever thought she was good at (other than Santana, she was an expert in her). But she fell in love with child development, and ended up with a degree in that as well. They were living in California, happy, and completely in love when they got the call that Brittany's mother had passed away suddenly. Like they'd just been on the phone with her the day before and she was fine kind of suddenly. So they flew to Lima that day, and Santana made funeral arrangements, called everyone Ms. Pierce had known, and took care of a near catatonic Brittany. A few days following the funeral, the lawyers called. They went to the meeting and learned that Brittany's mother had very little outstanding debt (nothing that Santana couldn't cover with a bit of her inheritance that she'd received when her parents passed) and Brittany was also handed the ownership of her mother's daycare, which had been shut down since her mother's passing.

A few nights later, while lying in her childhood room in each other's arms, Brittany decided she was ready to talk about this and start making decisions. Maybe not this exact second, but they could start the talking part.

"San…can we talk about some stuff." Santana, who had been waiting until Brittany was ready to bring anything up, nodded gently. "What do you think we should do with the daycare?"

"Why don't you tell me how you feel about it first…"? Santana replied as she kissed Brittany's forehead.

"I know what I feel but I don't know if you're going to like it. And whatever happens, no matter what we have I have to do, I want it to be with you."

"Don't get ahead of yourself babe, tell me what you want."

"I think I want to reopen the day care. At least for a little bit. Until I can find someone to sell it to that will run it and love it like my mom did. Lima isn't our forever San, it's just…we can't stay here forever. But maybe for a little bit?"

"Ok." Santana said with a shrug while trying to fold herself in closer to Brittany.

"Just ok? You're not upset. What about our apartment in California? What about your job and stuff?"

"It's not important. I hated that job, and I'll call the landlord tomorrow about the apartment. We can fly back this week and pack what we can, and come back. If this is what you want, I want what you want."

And that was that. Santana called the landlord, who was as understanding as landlords can be said he'd only continue charging them rent until he found new tenants. They went back to California, packed, said goodbye to their friends, and flew back to Lima. On the plane back Santana had brought up something that she wasn't entirely comfortable bringing up, but she knew she had to. A long with the daycare, Brittany also received her mother's very small, two bedroom house. However when Santana's parents passed away years prior, she also inherited their large house. It was paid off and not costing her very much money to keep other than hiring someone who came in and looked after the house, cleaning every once in a while, and making sure things stayed in order. So they were one couple, with two houses less than twenty minutes from each other. "Britt-Britt?" Brittany hummed her response that she was listening. "I know this is hard to talk about, but I think we need to. What are we going to do about both of our parent's houses? I think we have a few options, we could obviously sell one and keep the other, or we could sell both and start brand new."

"I don't want to start brand new. I don't want this to be something that happens to us that gets us stuck here. I want to do what would make my mom proud, and then go back to living our dream because I think that's what she'd want the most. Right?" Santana nodded. Brittany was always the smart one. She smiled at her. "I love my mother, and being in that house reminds me of her in a good way but my mom's memory isn't the house. And if I think about it, in you know…a logic way, that house has a lot of problems. And it's not in the awesomest neighborhood anymore. I think we should stay in your old house. If you think that's best." Brittany brought up all valid points, her house had less issues and was a five-minute walk to the closest neighbor so it was pretty quiet and safe. They continued talking the entire way home about logistics, and came up with a plan.

They'd take a month off. They weren't hurting for money so bad that that would be an issue. Santana had her inheritance and while mostly they tried to save that for a few years off when they were ready to buy a house and have babies, they used what they needed. In that month they'd clean out the house and move into Santana's parents house. They'd keep using her mother's car for the time being, as they'd left their car that they shared in California with a friend for fear that it'd never make the drive to Ohio. They'd find a buyer for the house, and sell her mother's car, which was also having some significant problems, and then they'd buy a new one. And then after that is all done (hopefully in a month or less), they'd start the process of reopening the daycare center.

Things went according to plan for the most part. It took a little longer to move out of the house than anticipated because there were several afternoons where they'd come across something that would have Brittany in tears for the rest of the night. Santana understood. But even with the healing process, they still managed to sell the house and the car (on the same day) three days before their one-month goal was up. They took a taxi to the car lot that they'd researched and drove away in a brand new Toyota Prius. "I feel so incredibly Midwestern-domesticated right now." Santana said. But she said it with a smile. Because she knew things like co-owning a car, and a house and a day care made Brittany really happy. They co-owned most things. But it still made Brittany smile when she'd look at their names on their joint bank account. They'd been engaged for two years now and had just been waiting for the right time to get married. Neither in a huge hurry, just before they started having kids.

The next month was a flurry of paperwork, which Santana mostly dealt with, and hiring people, which Brittany mostly dealt with. They hired a few people that had worked at the daycare center prior, the ones that had worked there for many years and had devoted as much heart into it as Brittany's mother had. It turned out that a few of their friends from high school were still in town for some reason or another, so they hired them too. Their goal was to continue her mothers efforts in not just making it a place to take your children when you went to work to have someone to watch them, but a place where children were educated instead of spending hours a day doing nothing in particular. They also continued her mother's methods of accepting less money from people who couldn't afford good daycare, by way of a scholarship fund of sorts. It had already been a good place, and they were determined to get it back to at least that, if not better.

It was eight months after they daycare had been reopened, and they were doing exceptionally well. They were (and had been for years before her mothers death) the best daycare facility in Lima. There was a waiting list to get your child into the daycare center, and they were working on plans to hire a few more staff so they could take on more children. Ella, and eighteen month old little girl had been coming their daily, seven days a week, from 6 o'clock in the morning until 9 o'clock in the evening, opening till close, for about a month now. Obviously Brittany, Santana, and the rest of the staff had opinions about Ella's parents for leaving her there so often, but they tried not to pass judgment to quickly. All they knew was that they managed to afford that, and that they were "small business owners" which was half of Lima essentially. Santana assumed that to be making enough to send their daughter to daycare that much, as well as afford a house in the area of Lima they lived in (not to far from where she and Brittany lived currently) they must be working really hard to make all of their ends meet.

It wasn't until she had been attending the daycare for a month that Brittany became suspicious of Ella's home life. She wouldn't say that Ella was developmentally disabled in any way, but she was delayed. She was also small for her age. She knew that these were very clear signs of neglect. So she started to pay even stricter attention in her observations of Ella. She seemed to make a fairly normal amount of progress, but Brittany was quick to figure out that everything Ella was learning, they had taught her at the daycare. She wasn't learning at home. Brittany was quickly becoming suspicious of abuse, so naturally she went to Santana with her fears. Santana agreed with her, saying that she'd observed a lot of the same things. Also another clue for her was how upset Ella was to leave them every night. The day before she had clung to Santana's neck and needed to be physically pried off in order for her uncle to take her home. Her uncle, who dropped her off and picked her up everyday even though she did live with her parents.

Santana and Brittany were both very uninterested in small town gossip. Unfortunately, they heard a lot of it when the mothers of their children would drop them off in the mornings. Santana had been setting up an activity they'd read about recently near where the mothers seemed to congregate and accidently overheard the most ludicrous rumor. One of the mother's was talking about "that poor baby Ella" and how she'd heard that her parents were involved with the Mafia. Santana snorted because seriously, the Mafia. Here. In Lima fucking Ohio. Really? Gossip mongers. While she definitely did not approve of their parenting styles, and had she any way to concretely prove that Ella was being neglected she would have reported them in a second, she did not believe there was any possible way they could have been involved in the mafia. Right?

Later that night she mentioned what she had overheard to Brittany who a first laughed but then of course being Brittany then asked "Yeah that's funny. But what if?"

"No what if's B. Even if, by some very very very tiny chance they were in the Mafia, we are in no way going to mess with that shit. Have you seen Scarface?" Brittany laughed at Santana and kissed her on the forehead.

Two weeks had passed, the conversation forgotten, and Brittany and Santana were both, unfortunately, working all day. They really needed to hire more staff because Santana does not enjoy being at the daycare from 5am till 10pm. Not even a little bit. They get there and open up and the first rush of children come in at six as usual. Ella seemed slightly lethargic but nothing you wouldn't just pass off as normal for a baby at six in the morning. As the day went on she seemed to perk up a bit. Dinnertime passed without event and pretty soon it was time to get all the late day kids ready for pick up at nine. Brittany and Santana were exhausted as they talked with parents about progress and behavior and what not until all the children were gone, nearly. It was 9:05 and nobody had come to pick up Ella. This wasn't completely out of the ordinary. Occasionally something comes up and parents can't get their kids on time but they'd always call and say they'd be ten minutes late. Nobody called. So Santana and Brittany turned on some music and started the clean up process, passing Ella back in forth for little impromptu dances. They'd never admit it out loud to anyone (except each other) but Ella was their favorite. She seriously looked like she could be a genetic combination of the two of them with her dark blonde curly hair, blue eyes, and tan skin. She also was there the most so they'd spent a lot of time with her. At 9:20 Santana decided she'd start calling the numbers in Ella's files. Every child is required to have daytime and nighttime number for both parents when available, as well as three emergency contacts. All numbers were tested for accuracy and authenticity so they'd never get stuck in a situation like this where they had no one to contact. So Santana started at the top with her fathers cell phone, and found it to be disconnected. Odd. Same with her mothers. Both daytime numbers were invalid (despite having been checked only a few months prior) and as she made her way down the emergency contact list, one was disconnected, one when picked up sounded like a fax machine, and one just rang and rang. No machine even picked up. So Santana, at this point feeling very uneasy about the situation, made her way to the other room where Brittany was talking to Ella about her favorite animals at the zoo. "Elephants… I think. Or no. No. Polar bears for sure. Or tigers. I love the tigers!"

"Puppies!" Ella yelled. Santana laughed despite the situation, but quickly remembered that she needed to talk to Brittany.

"So Brit…I called all of Ella's numbers in her file, not a single one answered. Weirder than that, all of them were disconnected except two, which one gave me a fax tone, and the other just rang for a while with no machine pick up." Brittany looked at her for a moment, deep in thought.

"I don't know what we should do. Should we call the police? Maybe something's wrong?"

"Well I know you can't even file a missing persons report until they've been missing for 24 hours. And if we call, I'm not exactly sure where they'll take Ella if they can't find her family, and the idea of her staying with strangers upsets me."  
>"So what do you think we should do?"<p>

"Maybe just stay here with her? So we're not taking her anywhere her parents don't expect her to be, I'd assume if something were wrong this is the first place they'd send someone to look for her. So we'll just lie out some cots, and sleep here tonight and wait and see if someone comes for her. If not, we file a report in the morning. We both have spare clothes in here, and I could run across the street and get us some dinner."

"I think that's an excellent idea Mrs. Future Lopez-Pierce." Brittany said as she kissed Santana while Ella playfully tapped their faces. Brittany spun Ella around who squealed excitedly now yelling "cookie!" as she waves her arms wildly. Santana laughs and kisses Brittany once more before running across the street to a dinner and grabbing some food to go; a chicken salad for her, French toast and eggs for Brit and Ella will get a combination of the two. She heads back over and smiles as she sees Brittany dancing in the middle of the room in front of a bouncing Ella. Santana knew Brittany needed more opportunities to dance. Talent like hers was meant to be seen by more than just her fiancé and a bouncing toddler. Not that Brittany would complain about that audience ever, because she was pretty sure it was her favorite kind of audience. Santana got plates out and separated out a few bites of French toast, some eggs, and some of the baby friendly veggies she had in her salad and then set up at one of the tables. While eating and talking about random things they were both having very similar thoughts about how much they liked this. This family feeling.

A few hours later, however much they liked that feeling, they were both growing more concerned that nobody had come to pick Ella up. Not only that, but they hadn't even called. After dinner they had given Ella their best version of a bath involving the sink that she seemed to think was great fun, put her in some pajamas, and she quickly fell asleep. Brittany and Santana lay on make shift beds near Ella in the back of the daycare, not visible from the street. They quietly discussed their plan for the morning, and then curled into each other and fell asleep. The alarm sounded what felt like five minutes later waking both of them, and Ella. Brittany tended to a crying Ella while Santana dug them some clothes out of the office, and Ella something to wear out of the just in case pile. Nothing that no one had called while they slept, and nobody had come by because Santana is sure she would have woken at any noise, they finished getting dressed. They'd decided that they wouldn't call right away, they were going to talk to the staff first, get things started at the day care center, and then go drive to Ella's house. If nothing, then they'd go to the police. They also decided that they would, in the event that it was needed, take Ella home with them until her parents were located. Santana only very briefly entertained the thought that Ella would be lucky and better off if nobody showed back up for her, as she was still certain, as was Brittany that Ella was most definitely being neglected at home.

When the staff starts to show up, they explain what happened. Luckily working today is two of their oldest friends, Mercedes Jones and Tina Chang. They discussed reasons why no one would have shown up or called, and also discussed perhaps writing out official protocol for if something like this were to happen again. While Tina and Mercedes continued to gossip, Santana and Brittany went through making sure everything was set for the day. They rewoke Ella who had fallen asleep on top of a stuffed dog (she really loved dogs) and fed her her favorite breakfast; bananas, cheerios, and apple juice. After the first round of kids had been dropped off and Mercedes, Tina were set, and another employee called in because both Brittany and Santana were leaving and weren't sure when they'd be back, they left. They slowly drove towards the address they'd gotten out of her file. They knew this was a functional address, like the phone numbers, at least at one point. They often mailed things home for parents to sign, new policy updates etc. and bring back, and they'd always got them back for Ella. So when they arrived at a large house, they weren't surprised. They weren't even surprised when they knocked on the door and no one answered. What was surprising, is when Santana looked in the window into the living room, it looked pretty empty. Not the kind of house people spend any time in. There wasn't even any furniture in the room except a chair in the corner. So they turned back around and got into the car, intent on heading to the police station. Santana wanted to stop on the way and grab her cell phone charger because it was almost dead and she didn't think now was a great time to not have her phone.

When they pulled up however, they noticed a car in their drive way. Which was strange, they never have visitors, especially unannounced visitors. The owner of the car (Santana assumes) is on the porch holding an envelope that he looks to be putting into their mailbox. Santana gets out of the car despite Brittany's hesitancy and yells

"Excuse me but who are you and why are you here. I will call the police!"

She lifts up her phone to dial the number hoping it doesn't die when the man yells back sounding sincere and not at all like he was trying to threaten them "NO! You mustn't call the police! That is the exact wrong thing to do right no ma'am you will regret it I promise."

Why on earth would she regret calling the police?

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><p><strong>AN2: Things are about the get crazzzy. Check back for chapter 2. Reviewing would be a most excellent idea.<strong>


	2. Chapter 2

On feelings alone, she walks past him, and opens the front door to the house after putting the car into the garage. She trusts her instincts, she always has. But this time the love of her life and an innocent baby are involved so she's going to be cautious. "I'm not going to hurt you. If I was, I could have killed you already and driven away." The man said.

"See the fact that you go right to killing me makes me think that you aren't the best of people. But you're right, and there's a lot going on right now that I don't really understand so, say what you need to. Please." She looks him in the eye, she's serious and she knows she can be intimidating. She waits for him to start talking, and subconsciously places herself between him and Brittany and Ella. No chances.

"This is about that baby. Ella is her name? I don't really know her, I'm not really on the inner circle. I'm a messenger. The guy that usually takes care of her sent me. He explained everything to me, told me to drop this envelope off to you, and then get back. I don't actually know what's in it. I assume there's some sort of explanation in there." Santana nods. She had a feeling this had to do with Ella. The circumstances were all so strange and she was confused and irritated.

"Just tell me the story."

"No way lady. That wasn't part of the deal. You got the envelope. I'm out of here." He goes to walk towards the door but Santana is in front of him again.

"Tell me what the fuck is going on!" She yells. It startles the man slightly, and apparently Ella too who starts whimpering.

"San. Please don't yell. I know you're scared but please be nice." Brittany says quietly. She hates losing her temper around Brittany. She doesn't think she's ever really lost it at her, but even Brittany just being there, Santana knows the yelling scares her. Apparently her and Ella have that in common. She turns to glance at them for just a second. Brittany pouting slightly, eyes pleading. Ella's face in Brittany's shoulder, tiny arms around her neck. She turns back towards the man.

"I'm sorry. I'm just… this is a lot. And I'd just like to know. I'd like to not risk opening that envelope and learning nothing. So please, the abbreviated version at least, that's all I'm asking you. I'll pay you. If that's what it takes."

"You don't have to pay me lady. I don't think this is going to end well for me anyway. Going against the boss never does, but she's a baby you know? Ok. So uh… let me see if I can keep this straight. So… the bosses wife, she had an affair. I don't think he even suspected it. All the sudden she was pregnant and the boss told everybody he was going to have a son. He was real excited. Then I guess they did those tests or whatever and found out it was a girl. He wasn't real happy about that but he seemed to be ok with it a few weeks later. When she was born, with that light hair and those light eyes the boss was confused. Caus he's real Italian, and his lady is only fake blonde. The doctor, I guess, said that it was normal. Babies always have blue eyes I guess. Which is just fuckin weird if you ask me. But anyway, he didn't really deal much with the baby. I think he was suspicious. Neither did the mother really. But people took care of her. Apparently the sound of her crying made the boss real angry so when she was old enough, they found a daycare that was open the longest, which is you, and took her there when she could be there. The boss got more and more frustrated with her anyway, and like I said, I think he had suspicions that his lady cheated but he didn't want to believe it. But the babies eyes never changed you know? And she's still got that light hair. Well, yesterday some guy with some serious balls comes walking into the house and demands to have the baby because it's his. The dude had blonde hair. So the boss orders him to be taken downstairs. I'm assuming they shot him. And his lady spilt everything. The affair was only a one-night thing, she wanted the baby to be the bosses. You know, typical shit. So the boss calls Alex in. He's the guy that brings the baby to you every day. And orders the bastard baby drowned. He doesn't want her to ever come back. They moved to another house. I think he didn't want to think about what his lady did. If you ask me it's only a matter of time before he offs her." Santana can't believe what she's hearing. Something akin to a shock has taken over. She can't believe all of those rumors and gossip were true. And now she was involved. She looks back at Brittany and Ella several times during the story. Brittany is listening, Santana knows she is because of the look in her eyes. But she's also covering one of Ella's ears and whispering softly to her while gently rocking her to keep her calm. Santana understands, Brittany is the only thing that keeps her calm too. She turns back to the guy.

"So why can't we report this all to the police?"

"Are you stupid lady?" Santana bristles, but hears a shh that she's sure is directed towards her. She relaxes her shoulders and with a look encourages him to continue. "The police here are all involved. You can't go to them it will get right back that you still have the baby, and worse. Your best bet is to get the fuck out of here. But I gotta go. They're gonna known something's up if I'm out to long with no good reason."

He gets up to go and Santana says "Thank you for your help." He nods and goes to walk out of the front door. Completely unable to process everything she's just heard she follows him so she can lock the door. She's just about made it back to Brittany when she hears tire wheels squeal up her drive way. She turns back to go toward the door when she hears the man yell "What the fuck man I didn't even do anything I just know some people here. They aren't even fucking home!" His voice is panicked. Santana starts backing slowly towards Brittany when she hears gunshots, one breaking a window somewhere else in the house. Brittany nearly screams when Santana covers her mouth with her hand. She only has two thoughts. Stay silent. Get down. She pulls Brittany to the ground and covers her and Ella best she can with her body. She will protect them no matter what. She can feel Brittany sobbing underneath her. She can see Ella's eyes blinking wide and blue. They're both alive.

"Shhhhhh Britt baby it's ok. We're gonna be ok. I'm gonna keep you both safe we just need to stay quiet." She whispers into her ear pulling her hand away from Brittany's mouth who replaces it with her own trying to keep her crying silent. Santana places small kisses along Brittany's jaw, trying to comfort her. She puts her arm around her and Ella pulling them both as tight to her as possible. Ella, for her part, is still silent. Santana tries not to think about why that might be because either she's in shock, or she's so used to gunshots that the sound doesn't scare her. Either way, it breaks her heart that a baby ever would have to go through this or even a fraction of the pain Ella must have. Tears start to escape her eyes but her voice stays even as she continues to whisper things into the back of Brittany's neck. She's fairly certain that she heard the car pull back out of the drive way but she's not positive. Either way, she knows they are far from out of danger, and staying here would be the worst idea ever.

"Ok Brit, I need to check if they're gone, caus we need to get out of here." Brittany starts to panic and clutches at Santana while shaking her head no, her sobs getting louder. "Shhh Britt shhhh. I promise it's going to be ok. I will keep both of you safe I just need you to trust me. I know you trust me. You're going to crawl with me on the floor over to the bathroom and then I want you and Ella to go into the bathroom, close and lock the door, and sit in there till I tell you to come out." She kisses Brittany several times before Brittany takes a deep breath and nods. They crawl towards the bathroom as best they can which is difficult at best because Brittany is still clutching Ella. They get to the bathroom and they crawl inside, Santana is just about to close the door when Brittany stops her.

"You have to come back San" she says, her eyes wide and watering. "I can't live without you. So you have to come back to me." Santana kisses her hard on the lips.

"Always." She kisses her once more and closes the door. She stays knelt on the floor for a few minutes breathing, trying to think what next. She starts to crawl towards the closest window so she can peak outside. Before she gets there she realizes how stupid that is. If someone were outside, they'd be able to see right into that window. So she decides upstairs would be the best option. It would be harder for them to notice her looking out, and she knows she has some things upstairs that she'll need to grab. She starts slowly climbing the stairs staying as low as possible.

Brittany turns the faucet on just a little bit so barely a trickle comes out. She wipes her face off, and takes some deep breaths. She feels Ella pulling herself up to standing position using her leg. She bends down to pick her up setting her on the sink to wipe her face off too. Ella hasn't cried since San yelled. And even then it was only a little bit. Brittany thinks about what Ella's life must have been like. The things that she's probably heard and seen in her short life. Brittany smoothes her fingers across her little nose and eye brows. Ella scrunches her face up and giggles lightly.  
>"We're going to be ok little girl. Santana and I are going to take care of you. We'll figure this out. Or she will. She figures everything out, and then I figure her out. That's how we work." She says gently placing a kiss on the baby's tousled blonde hair.<p>

Santana makes it to the top of the stairs. Even though she knows that logically, there probably isn't anyone in the house, she can't help but be nervous because really this situation defies logic. She gets to the bedroom her and Brittany share which faces toward the front of the house. First thing is first, assess whether or not they're still out there. She crawls toward the corner of the window, lifting herself up into a crouching position she slowly moves just the corner of the curtain. She takes a first look and sees nothing. So she open's the curtain just a bit wider and takes a better look. Still nothing. She notes that the man's car is still there, the door open, and the back window shot out. She doesn't see him anywhere, she hopes that means he's ok and he'll manage to lie is way out of it. She doubts it though, and she knows he did too. So far she knows at least two people have risked their lives to save Ella other than her and Brittany and that makes her feel slightly better about her life, someone must have cared about her at least a little bit.

Next she thinks about what kinds of things they need to take. She doesn't have time to pack fully, but she knows they need to get the hell out of here. Whether or not that man lived to lie about what he was doing here, she didn't doubt the truth would come out eventually. And when it did, they weren't going to be here. She knew they had some cash stored in the back of their closet, just in case. So she grabbed that first and put it in a large duffle bag. Next she grabbed some clothes, just a few things for her and Brittany. She grabbed a box from a shelf in the closet that contained their favorite pictures and most of the small memory things that were incredibly important to both of them, but very specifically Brittany. She grabbed a blanket from the bed and put it on top of the bag. Next she walked out of the room and down the hall to where her dad's office was, that was now their office. Luckily everything important was stored on their laptop and external hard drive. So she grabbed both of those too. She looked through the drawers making sure there was nothing in there that could trace them to anyone specifically and shredding anything that did. Everything her instincts told her to do, she did. If somehow this worked out, they'd find a way to deal with the shredded documents if they were important later.

She walked back to their room, throwing the laptop and her hard drive into the bag before zipping it up, and walking quickly back down the stairs. First she goes to the table where the envelope the man and brought was and grabs it, along with her and Brittany's purses and throws them in the bag. Then she heads back towards the bathroom. When she got to the door, she heard the faintest noise of Brittany talking to Ella. She said as quietly as she could but loud enough that Brittany would hear her. "Brittany it's me open the door." The door flew open and Brittany was wrapped around her before she even had enough time to put the bag down. "I'm ok baby. We're ok. We need to get to the car though. There isn't anybody outside that I can tell. We're going to quietly as we can without saying any words go to the car and put Ella in the car seat. Then we're going to get into the car, and we're going to drive as fast as we can out of here. We're not going to look around or anything. We're just going to go. Ok? I have everything we need in this bag." Brittany nodded, she wanted to ask questions. She wanted to talk about what was happening. But she knew that this was probably the exact wrong time to do that.

Santana picks Ella up, shoulders the bag and takes Brittany's hand and starts pulling her towards the door that leads into the garage. They are as silent as possible. They lock Ella into the car seat and Santana tightens the straps. She has no idea what's going to happen when that garage opens. She sets the bag next to the car seat and climbs into the driver's side. Brittany is already in the passenger seat. Santana takes a second to breath because she's pretty sure she hasn't since they left the bathroom. She's scared. The shock is starting to wear off and the fear is starting to bubble to the surface. Brittany takes her hand and she feels Santana shaking. She knows that means Santana is trying to keep herself from breaking. She pulls her the Latina's hand towards her causing Santana to look at her. She leans in and kisses her gently on the lips and presses their foreheads together. She palms her cheeks and brushes her thumbs over them as gently as possible. Santana lets a few tears escape, which are quickly brushed away before she takes a deep breath, kisses Brittany once more, and nods ok. She hits the garage opener, starts the car and waits till the garage door is up just enough that she knows she won't hit it, she peels out of the garage, narrowly avoiding the man's open car door. She hits the button again in her best effort to make it look like they were never here, and speeds out of the drive way and down the street.

"You need to slow down just a bit baby or we're going to get pulled over and that would be terrible right now." Brittany whispers to Santana.

"Ok. Yeah. You're right." Santana slows down till she's going just five miles over the speed limit. She continues on back roads heading towards the high way going west.

"Where are we going?"

"Just out of here. West I guess. What do you think? What are you thinking?"

"I'm scared. Obviously. Also I hope everyone at the daycare is safe." Santana glances over at Brittany. She'd thought about the daycare for sure, but not in great depth. She assumes that as long as they don't know anything, which they don't, then they should be ok.

"We need to tell them something or they're going to call the police as soon as they realize we're missing. Which would be bad. We should text one of them."

"Who?"

"Tina I think. She's the most rational. I think she'll listen the best. Get out your phone Brit and let's think of what to say. We can't tell her the truth, obviously. But we can't lie too much or she'll get suspicious."

"We can tell her we're going to see someone. A friend needs us. She might know it's not true but at least it's something to tell someone else if they come asking."

"Good idea babe. So…. Type this. Tina, we're going to see a friend who needs some help right now. We should tell her we're going somewhere, that might help at least throw them off of us if they come looking."

"Florida. We can be going to Florida." Santana nods. "So, 'Tina, we're going to see a friend who needs some help right now, in Florida.' We should tell her not to ask us or anyone any questions. What else?"

"Let me know if you don't agree, but I think we should tell her not to call the police, or try and find us. Because I think she's going to know that we didn't just up and go to Florida to help some people. But if she could at least convince other people that she believes that, then she'll be safe. You know? But if we don't give her some kind of information saying yes we're in trouble, but we'll be ok then I think she's going to ignore us and go to the police."

"No. I think you're right. Ok, so here's what I have. 'Tina, we're ok. We have Ella. We're going to Florida to help a friend who needs us. You can't call the police for any reason even if you think that might not be true. It will make everything worse. If anyone asks, remember, Florida. Take care of the center, we'll contact you as soon as we can. Love you, Brittany and Santana." Brittany reads out loud.

"Sounds like the best we can do right now." She takes Brittany's hand and rubs circles along her knuckles. It calms both of them at least a little. She looks in the back seat and Ella is just watching them occasionally kicking her legs or playing with a button on the overalls she's wearing. They hear the text message reply come in.

"She said 'Ok. I trust you. You contact me the second you can. I love you. Be safe.' She'll get Mercedes and the rest of the staff to believe that story. They're going to be ok. But now we need to figure out where we are going. And we need to feed Ella. I know that it's not safe to stop right now, but she has to eat soon. She can't skip meals like we can."

"I know Brit. Plus we need to get her some thing. We don't have diapers or any clothes for her or anything. We're lucky enough that we had extra car seats at the center. So first store we see, we'll stop ok? Get some stuff, figure out the next step."

So that's the plan. They stop at a store. It's not much of a plan but right now not much of a plan is better than nothing all things considered.


	3. Chapter 3

AN: Kind of fillery. Sorry for the wait. Finals/Spring break/Computer issues. Hope you enjoy regardless.

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><p>They aren't on the road very long, maybe an hour and a half at normal driving speed when they see an exit with a Walmart. Ordinarily, Santana would do anything she could to avoid a Walmart but this was exactly what they needed. Lots of people and no chance of being seen. Also they could get everything they need without having to go to multiple places. They pull into the parking lot and Santana looks into the back seat and sees that Ella is sleeping. She turns of the car and looks at Brittany. Brittany is looking at her. "Let's sit here for a minute. Let her sleep a bit longer. We should talk about what next."<p>

"Yeah. Agreed. We should look at that envelope too San." Brittany twists around to get the envelope out of the bag in the back seat and pulls it into her lap. It's heavier than she thought it would be. She opened up the top flap and looked inside. She gasped and handed the envelope to Santana. Santana looked inside and there was money. Not millions, obviously, but it was still not what she'd been expecting. She had no idea what she had been expecting. She pulled out the only other thing in the envelope, which was a single piece of paper with a typed letter on it. She glanced over it and it contained what was essentially a very abbreviated non-detailed version of the story that they had already heard. At the bottom was a phone number with instructions to "call when it's safe." She said the last part out loud.

"Is it safe? Should we call?" Brittany asked while playing with a lose thread on Santana's jeans.

"I feel like I don't even know the definition of that word. But we're safer than we were two hours ago, so maybe we should call." Santana took Brittany's phone and dialed the number. After two rings she heard a click.

"Hello."

"Um. Hello? I was instructed to call this number."

"I know. We need to make this quick. Did you see the man who gave you this envelope?"

"Yeah. He told us what happened. At least, most of it I think."

"What happened to him?"

"You know what, I'm not exactly sure. Some people shot up my house, and then they sped away with him, I think… and now we're at a Walmart. And I'm kind of pissed about"

"You're not safe. They don't know how much you know, which is almost more dangerous. You need to get away. Whatever you do, try not to leave a trail. Pay with cash. Get rid of your cell phones. Be careful. Call this number again on Thursday at 4:00pm." Santana heard a click. She didn't know anything more than she knew before the phone call. Except now she knew they were in deep.

"He said to call back at 4:00pm on Thursday. And to pay with cash and get rid of our cell phones. We should write our numbers down just in case something also happens to the computer." Brittany nods. She knows that sometimes, when Santana gets scared, she needs to just do things. The action calms her. Plans calm her. So she gets paper and a pen out, and they go through the phone finding all the numbers they'll need. Santana disconnects the batteries from the phones themselves, and takes them out into the parking lot, throwing the pieces out into the road to be crushed. She felt more cut off now, but she knew it was for the best.

She walked back towards the car and saw Brittany leaning over the front seat into the back to play with a now smiling Ella. Her heart swelled. This situation sucked. It was terrible. She was afraid for Brittany, and herself. But she was also afraid for Ella. Despite having no familial connections to the child, she knew she would protect her no matter what. She got back into the car and put her hand on Brittany's back. She needed to hear from Brittany that she felt the same way, because she knew she couldn't make a decision like this for the both of them. "Brit. We need to keep her safe. Nobody has ever made her safe. I don't think she's ever been anyone's priority."

"I know. And we are."

"So we're doing this? Whatever this is we're going to do it, so we can keep her safe. Right? Because I love you so much and I would do anything to protect you. But the past few hours have made me feel like maybe I'd do anything to protect her too. But whatever we do, I need to know we're doing it together."

"Always Santana. Always together. We'll figure this out and we'll keep her safe. I love you too." Brittany leaned across to kiss Santana gently, their lips molding together. A small noise from the back seat breaks them apart. Santana looks back and Ella is just sitting there repeating her name with a small pout on her lips. The Latina notices that she looks a little flushed. She puts her hand on Ella's cheek and forehead feeling for a temperature.

"Does she look flushed to you Brit? She feels a little warm." Brittany nods her head to agree.

"She needs to eat, and sleep and not be in a car for a while. She's had a really eventful past couple of days."

"Ok. Lets get what we need from here, drive a little further, and we'll stop in some tiny town and stay at a hotel there for the night."

They got out of the car and Santana pulled Ella from her car seat. Ella laid her head down on Santana's shoulder and put her finger in her mouth. Brittany has seen Santana hold babies before, they own a day care, so of course. But this is the first time it's ever made her heart swell with love and a fierce fierce sense of protection. She hesitates slightly to let herself think 'family' but it's hard not to look at the little girl half asleep on the love of her life's shoulder and not go there. Brittany has no idea what they are going to do, or what is going to happen to them, or more specifically what is going to happen to Ella. She puts the thoughts out of her mind for the minute, deciding that talking to Santana out-loud would be better than worrying about this in her head.

"Hey Brit could you push the cart I'm going to hold her until she wants down. I think she's almost asleep." Ella's eyes are mostly closed and she's breathing evenly. She has one hand clutched tightly into the fabric of Santana's shirt and Brittany wonders how much anyone has ever held her outside of them at work. The thought makes her sad. Babies need held, she know this from classes she took in school, plus she thinks it's probably common sense. They walk towards the baby section and grab a few packs of diapers, some wipes, powder, and some bath things like towels, baby shampoo, and lotion. Next they head over to clothes and get her some socks, several outfits, a coat, two new pairs of shoes, onsies, and pajamas. Santana is thankful for the time both of them have spent taking care of children because the things that Brittany and her are throwing into the cart are second nature. They get some toys, and some books, several sippy cups, and lots of food and juice boxes that they can get away with neither refrigerating nor heating up. They both know that this isn't the best thing for her nutritionally, but it's better than fast food until they can get her to a place where home cooking is an option. If they can get to that place.

They continue walking around the store picking up things they both need as well as some food for the car, and some blankets just in case. They go to check out, and as per instruction, they pay in cash. By time they walk out of the store Ella is completely asleep. Santana lays her back into her car seat and Brittany lays one of her new stuffed animals in with her. While Brittany is doing that, Santana walks over to her side of the car and when Brittany pulls out of the back seat she is met with Santana's body clutching desperately to her. "I love you so much B. So much." Brittany whispers words of love and comfort back to her, because that's what this is. Santana pretending to comfort Brittany, because she needs comforted. After several minutes they pull apart, Santana tries to hide the few tears that had been in her eyes, and they get back into the car.

They had been on the road for about half an hour before anyone said anything. "We should empty our bank account." Brittany says to Santana. She looks over and Santana nods. "Maybe when we find a hotel, there will be one in the area."

"It's pretty likely. It's a common bank in Ohio. I wish we had our phones, we could just look it up."

"I know San. It's just not safe." Santana looks over at Brittany and half smiles. She knows it's not safe. She just hates this situation. After putting in another hour of driving, Santana pulls off on an exit that lists several hotels. Thankfully she's correct and there is a bank there. She pulls in first and tells Brittany to wait in the car with the still sleeping Ella. She goes in and with little trouble empties their personal account of all the cash, and closes it. She left the business account open because she couldn't think of a reason that that might aid in, whoever is looking for them, to find them. She gets back into the car and they head to the nearest hotel that looks inexpensive and unassuming, but clean. Because even in crisis, Santana has standards.

They park and once again Santana leaves Brittany in the car to check into the hotel. Thankfully it's small enough that they don't require a credit card to remain on file, which is a problem she hadn't really thought of until walking up to the desk. But this particular hotel was more than happy to take cash. After getting room keys, she heads back out to the car to get Brittany and Ella. When she gets there Ella is awake, if not a little bleary eyed. "We should get dinner now while she's awake so when we go to the hotel room, we're in for the night."

"Good idea B. Want to go to that diner across the street?" Brittany nods and they head over. They order food, once again planning on just giving Ella parts of what they're having. Santana looks around. She's trying hard to feel safe right now. They're a few hours away from Lima, they've done everything they've been told, and they're in a town where she's pretty sure they're still using dial up internet. But she's nervous, and she wonders if this feeling will ever go away. She can't stop looking over her shoulder, and she can't stop trying to block Brittany and Ella from site, as if that would somehow protect them if someone decided to shoot them. She shakes her head trying to rid herself of the thoughts. Brittany sees this and takes Santana's hands into her own because she knows Santana is scaring herself right now. She can practically feel it coming from her. She knows Santana better than most people know themselves.

Ella breaks the tension of the moment by squealing happily as she plays with another new toy. They both crack a smile as their food comes. They eat, talking about light topics like movies Brittany wants Ella to see, and discussing whether or not they should give Ella a mohawk because it would be funny. After they pay, they head back over to the hotel, grabbing bags of stuff with them out of the car. They get into the room and Santana puts Ella down and Ella starts to bounce a little and takes a few wobbly steps. "She's probably really excited to get to walk around. She's been in a seat or carried since we left the daycare this morning." Brittany walks around the room setting lamps on the floor and doing the best she can to temporarily baby proof the room.

Ella plays with Santana and Brittany for a bit, but tires quickly. Still flushed and feeling warm, they decide to give her a bath and put her to bed. She falls asleep and they take turns showering. Santana sits on the bed next to Ella listening to Brittany shower trying to remember the last time they showered alone; mostly they just did it together. Although, as they've found, it does not save time nor water.


	4. Chapter 4

**AN: **Sorry it's been so long. Grad school is really my only excuse. But it's summer and I'm less busy so I'll try and update more/faster.

Does anyone else find it really hard to write when the caliber of some of the other stuff on here is so unbelievably amazing and you feel like you'll never match up? Yeahhhh.

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><p>According to the clock glowing red (seriously who still uses real alarm clocks anyway?) Santana has been laying awake for about three hours. For the most part she's just thinking and trying desperately not to move to much and wake the woman clinging to her even in sleep, or the baby that lay next to her spread out taking up at least half the bed. She's thinking about what's happened, and how she feels about it, how she's scared but resolved, and how she's really glad that her and Brittany can nearly feel what the other is feeling and so she doesn't have to explain what she's feeling very much, because it'd be difficult. And right now, she doesn't have the energy for difficult. She's also thinking about logistics, the kinds of things that she really will need to work out with Brittany in the morning.<p>

She's also worried about Ella, she's still flushed and her temperature is still running high best Santana can tell. She doesn't dare take her actual temperature, but every so often she lightly rests her hand on Ellas forehead, and she's pretty sure she's running at least a bit of a fever.

She thinks she falls asleep about an hour and a half before Ella wakes up and starts crying. Brittany opens her arms, and upon instinct, because Brittany is pretty sure Ella has never been shown this kind of affection at home, Ella crawls to her chest. She grips the fabric of Brittany's tank top and rubs her face on it lightly while still whimpering. She whispers soft words to her and notices that Santana, who had been holding her very tightly just moments before, has loosened her hold and is also in the process of waking up. Although, Brittany notices, she doesn't look like she's slept at all.

Santana tells Brittany that they need to talk some things out, and that maybe they could do it while Ella eats her breakfast. Brittany gets her some juice and gives her some dry cereal and fruit and puts on some children's program on the television. While she doesn't think TV should watch your children, she also doesn't really want Ella to pay attention to the conversation they're having. Sure, she's not even two, but there's no reason risking her getting worked up over the, inevitably, stressed tones of their voices.

They sit at a table just a few feet away from where Ella is currently focused on the television.

"San you look so tired."

"Yeah I didn't sleep a lot last night. But I did do a lot of thinking, so maybe I'll be able to sleep tonight. We've got some details we need to figure out. I'm worried about the daycare."

"Because it's in our name?"

"Yeah. I'm worried that whoever they are, won't leave the daycare alone because they'll be convinced we're coming back. Which we obviously can't do, not right now at least. But I have no idea how much they think we know, or how stupid they think we are. So maybe… it'd be easier to at least give them the hint we're not coming back, and transfer the daycare to someone else's name."

"Yeah. I guess… you're probably right. I think maybe Tina? I don't know who else is responsible enough. I know Mercedes is dedicated, and will help. But paperwork wise, Tina helps with a lot of it already."

"I completely agree Britt-Britt. I'm sorry we have to do this, I know it must be really hard and I wish I could think of any other way."

"No. I get it. Maybe someday we can come back." Brittany states with what Santana recognizes as very little confidence.

"How do we get the paperwork transferred over?"

"I'll call my cousin Alex. He'll do it without asking questions, the less anyone knows the better. But I think we need to call Tina and warn her, obviously as little detail, or true detail as possible. But she'd probably like to know before just getting a call from my lawyer cousin."

"Good point. We should wait to call till right before we leave." Brittany wonders if it's possible that they've found them here, she doesn't know what these people are capable of and she just desperately hopes they leave their friends and family alone.

"Mhmm. Agreed. Ok, so next we really need to clean out our personal bank account today. We'll leave the daycare's alone because that'll transfer to Tina's name with the rest of the accounts when the daycare does, but we should empty and close our account today." Brittany nods while playing with Santana's fingers hoping that it will help calm and ground both of them a little bit. "The last thing I can think of right now is, Britt…where are we going?"

Brittany looks up at Santana. The question had occurred to her as well just not really as a priority. She was so busy making sure that Ella and Santana were calm and safe, and trying to remember anything that might help them that where they were going became something that didn't feel all that important. But she guesses that it might actually be important since it is really hard to just drive to no where. She thinks for a moment and has an idea. Or it's more like a half idea but it's better than nothing, which feels like what they have right now. "Well, we have to make that call on Thursday. And it's Tuesday. But we can't stay here, and I think it's best if we keep going far away. California seems like an obvious choice, but it's big there and…what about Quinn? We still keep in contact with her but only over the phone really so unless they dig really deep there's not a lot of record. And if they were looking for people that we'd go running to there are probably a lot more obvious options. And I know she'd be able to help us, at least for a bit. Even if it's just a stop. Because honestly S I have no other ideas."

Santana takes a minute to think about this. She weighs the pros and cons as best she can in just a few short moments. And then she nods "I think you're right B. But I think maybe we shouldn't call and warn her. She'll ask to many questions and that is too dangerous to deal with in an over the phone capacity. So maybe your right, maybe that could be the plan for now, but let's keep an open mind because we have no idea what's going to happen on Thursday." Brittany nods and they decide it's time to pack up and leave. They notice that Ella has barely eaten anything and she's acting slightly lethargic. Brittany takes her temperature and she is in fact running a fever. They give her some fever reducer and hope that it's enough.

They pack up the car and then sit down on the bed to call Tina. Ella has her arms wrapped tightly around Brittany's neck and is falling in and out of sleep. Brittany can only hear Santana's side of the conversation but she's impressed with Tina's innate ability to understand that right now is not at all the time for questions.  
>Santana tells her that something has come up, and that they are ok. But that for now, and for an indeterminable amount of time, she needs to switch ownership of the daycare from her and Brittany to Tina. That she trusts Tina with all manners of decision making, and that they will touch base as often as they can but that it may not be for a while.<p>

Santana gets off the phone and takes a minute to collect herself. They get into the car and search the GPS for a nearby branch of their bank. They find one just a few miles away and head there. Santana goes in and empties the bank account hoping that it's not suspicious and that the amount isn't high enough that there'd be any reason to alert anyone. She can't deal with that right now. She gets back to the car to find Brittany rechecking Ella's temperature and notices that Ella's hair is now sticking to her head with sweat. Her temperature has taken a turn for the worse. They decide to drive for an hour since she's currently sleeping and see if there is any improvement.

An hour later Ella is awake and screaming. She is clearly very uncomfortable and Brittany decides that they need to take her into a doctor. Santana agrees but wishes they were further away from Lima. For the amount of time that's passed since they woke up in they daycare, she feels as though they should be further away than just six hours. But there's been a lot of stopping, and she can't justify letting the baby suffer because she's afraid. They follow the signs to the nearest hospital.

When they arrive they approach the front desk and it becomes immediately clear that they did not think this through. Having figured that out however, they're not sure that thinking it through would have fixed anything. They have absolutely no records for Ella. No cards, no certificates, no social security cards. No way to prove that this is in fact they're child. On top of that they don't even have a checkbook or bank cards, all they have is cash. The nurse gets up under the pretense of checking something, but goes to tell the doctor about the suspicious behavior.

Unfortunately, Santana's fears about not being far enough from Lima are completely justified. The doctor, upon hearing the description of the situation looks into the waiting area and sees the people in question. The two women match the description he was given not even one day ago, and the baby matches the picture almost perfectly. Yesterday he'd received a call from some "friends" a few hours away in Lima, and received vague details about the situation. The call ended with instructions that if the baby was dropped off by these two women, to call immediately. The doctor has dealt with these people for years now, and while the pay off is really good, some of the things he's asked to deal with and keep secret weigh on him. But he doubts he can get out now even if he wanted to, and he assumes if they are after these women, there is probably a good reason. He hopes there is a good reason. He probably just shouldn't think to much about the reasons.

He's inclined to let them go. To just not put the call into Lima, but he wouldn't want it to get back that he'd let them slip through his hospital. Their lives mean very little to him, in the grand scheme of, you know, losing his instead. Because even though he tries to pretend he has no idea, he knows exactly who the men are that he deals with, and what they're capable of. So ultimately, the decision comes down to putting in the call.

The doctor isn't careful enough though. He doesn't account for very observant nurses like Nurse Pillsbury. Emma Pillsbury has known for a very long time that the doctor was involved with something possibly illegal. She also has known for some time that he has a certain disregard for life. He's not a very good doctor, she thinks. But after seeing how scared those young girls look, and hearing the doctor make a "personal call" after one of the other nurses told him about them, she decides that this time she's going to step in. Because if something happens to them or that baby, as she suspects it might, she'd never be able to live with herself. And that's just not how she wants today to end.

She walks out into the emergency room waiting room and asks Brittany and Santana to go back with her. She takes them into a small room that is almost never used and locks the door. After getting a run down of Baby Ella's symptoms, she checks her over. She quickly realizes that Ella is far to small for her age, and after a thorough check she's fairly certain of the problem.

"She has an ear infection and a fever. I suspect that it's from her immune system being compromised due to long term malnourishment, dehydration, and neglect. I can have someone run tests if you'd like, but I'm pretty sure some medicine, and regular care is going to fix this. And I know she's not really yours, and that you need to leave here as soon as possible." Santana freezes and she's pretty sure her heart stopped. How does she know? Is someone following them? Brittany is the first to speak.

"Thank you nurse, please give us the medicine and we appreciate what you're doing." Because Brittany has always been the level headed one of both of them. But she's shaking, Santana can see that, she's not sure if it's from fear, or just from everything. But she's grateful that they're leaving quickly.

Emma leaves and comes back with medicine and a bottle of pedialite in the hopes of helping rehydrate little Ella. Ideally they'd keep her here, but that's obviously not an option for reasons she's not going to think about right now. She looks out of the door and sees the doctor talking to a man, and she catches a few words. The doctor storms off and the man is standing there looking around. She heard enough to know that he can't see Santana and Brittany so she tells them that she's going to distract him, and that they are to leave as quickly as possible. Her ability to stay calm is slightly alarming to Santana but she trusts her, because she didn't have to help.

Emma goes out and asks the man if she might be able to help him. She notices he has a lot of dirt under his fingernails as he continues to bite them and stare at her. After a tense moment he asks if she's seen two women and a baby that fit the exact description of the women that are currently sneaking behind him. In a split second decision that she'll later never bring herself to fully regret she says "I think the doctor you were just talking to made them leave just a bit ago actually." The man stalked off to find the doctor, whom Emma never sees again.

Santana quickly puts Ella in her car seat and jumps into the passenger side door and Brittany peels out of the parking lot. They're driving fast. Not suspiciously fast, but fast enough. Adrenaline is running high. "I don't know how but we have to be more careful. We have to get further away." Brittany says. Santana nods in agreement noticing that Brittany's knuckles are white on the steering wheel and her entire body is shaking slightly. Not even five minutes later Santana notices the tears running down Brittany's face.

"I know Brit. It's ok. I'm scared to. We're ok." She says in a soothing voice.

"It's not that San. It's just…Ella. How did I not know? It's my job to know how bad she was hurting and I didn't know. She suffered and everyday we could have stopped it. It's my job." She's sobbing now and Santana isn't sure how she can still see the road. Tears are pooling in her own eyes as well.

"We can't blame ourselves. She never had a mark on her, we just thought she was a little slow to develop. Nobody wants to believe that parents who can afford to pay for day care, and expensive clothes would ever neglect their children that way. It's just… we never wanted to see it. But we have her now. And she's going to be ok. Once we get further away, I just….I promise you we're all going to be ok." Brittany is taking great heaving breaths now, and the car is starting to speed up. "Brit baby, pull over."

"NO! We need to get further" She cries out. Santana puts her hand on her back and starts rubbing small circles at the base of her neck.

"Britt we need to give Ella her medicine, and I think you should let me drive. Just for a bit."

Brittany nods her head, trying desperately to control her breathing, and pulls over. They get out and get into the back seat together where Ella is laying quietly playing with a toy half asleep. They give her her medicine and fill a sippy cup with the pedialite. They both kiss her cheeks and then switch sides so that Santana is driving. Brittany is strong for her all the time, she can be strong right now. Brittany continues to cry quietly but is gaining more control while maintaining a strong grip on Santana's non driving hand.

Santana drives as far as she possibly can. Her eyes are drooping before she says that she thinks maybe they ought to stop. They've been driving since they left the hospital save for a few bathroom stops and some drive through food. They all need to sleep. No matter how scared they are they can't just keep driving. They both need to sleep, and Ella probably needs it most of all. So she starts the task of finding a hotel. Brittany and Ella are both drifting in and out of sleep while she drives through yet another small town and comes upon a bed and breakfast. She thinks it's probably a little more expensive then they'd like but it looks clean, and nice, and they need nice right now. So she pulls in and gets out of the car. In a stroke of self preservation, or maybe it won't help anyway but it makes her feel better, she checks in under a fake name. She goes back out to the car and wakes Brittany who, while still nervous, is glad to be out of the car. It's then that she looks at Santana and realizes how exhausted she looks and remembers that Santana hasn't really slept in days.

"You go inside baby, I will bring everything in. No arguments. I love you." Santana nods weakly at Brittany's request and heads inside, carrying a few bags with her and propping the door open. Brittany grabs the rest of the essentials, plus Ella who wakes up and is clinging to her neck nervous about yet another new place. She walks in the room and is happy that this is the place Santana picked. It feels calming.

The next thing she notices is that Santana is already passed out on the bed. She smiles, and goes to her, brushing her hair out of her face. She presses a kiss to her forehead and then gently removes her shoes and pants. Next she dresses Ella for bed who is so tired she can barely help get her arms in the arm holes. She changes herself and then lays Ella down next to Santana who has migrated towards the middle of the bed. Ella immediately curls into Santana who, in her sleep, puts her arm protectively around her and pulls the baby tight to her chest. Brittany's heart swells. She lays down behind Santana and puts her arm around both of them and pulls them in as tight as she can. Despite the fear, she is so full of love she thinks it might be the bigger feeling right now. Which, of course, because it's Santana, and Ella and this is her family. And maybe it's not the most normal of ways to go about completing their family, but it happened, and she will do anything to protect it.


	5. Chapter 5

**AN:** Sorry for those of you that I told an update for both of my stories would be up today. Personal stuff came up so you'll get one tonight, and one tomorrow.

I didn't get a chance to go over this because I wanted to post something before I fall asleep. So I will double check all error and issue .

But other than that, I hope you enjoy this chapter despite it's flaws.

K

* * *

><p>Santana wakes up the next morning feeling better rested than she had in days. Which she thinks is definitely for the best because she wasn't sure how much longer she was going to be able to function normally on so little sleep. She registers the warm bodies surrounding her. She opens her eyes and looks down to see the tiny body of Ella pressed tightly to her. She smiles and brushes the soft curl from her face. She thinks again (certainly not for the first time) she really does look like she could be a product of her and Brittany, if that was possible. She feels the tight weight of her love's arm over her waist, as well as sees the blondes hand pressed against Ella's back. She lets herself lay there for a while thinking that this would be one of the most amazing ways to wake up once things have calmed down for them. Provided Ella is still with them. But Santana only lets this thought scare her for a minute, because she knows that short of killing her or putting her in jail there is very little anyone can do to take this baby away from them.<p>

She feels more than hears Brittany's breathing change in a way that signals she's waking up. She rotates in her arm so that she's facing the blonde woman as Brittany opens her eyes. She kisses her lightly. "No matter what's going on, or how often I look at you, you're still the most beautiful woman I've ever seen Brittany." Santana really is astounded by her beauty. Brittany blushes and hums before whispering I love you into Santana's mouth as she kisses her briefly. She moves the hand previously wrapped around her to Santana's face stroking her cheekbone. Her hand moving must be what woke Ella because not a minute later Santana felt little hands pulling at the fabric of her shirt helping her stand up to look at both of them over the Latina's back.

"Hello pretty Ella" Brittany coos at the little girl. Ella makes a happy little noise before burying her face in Santana's side and giggling. Brittany tickles her fingers across the exposed skin at Ella's neck which makes her laugh a little harder, in turn making both Brittany and Santana laugh. Ella seems to be feeling better and her fever has certainly gone down. They start to get out of bed and as soon as Santana changes her diaper and lowers her to the floor Ella starts playing with a toy she could see sticking out of the bag. A stuffed dog. She walks up to Santana and says "woof" Santana smiles because Ella is behind in both size and milestones. And knowing why this is makes Santana more determined to help her catch up, and give her everything she needs really.

"That's a puppy Ella. Puppy says woof" at her woof Ella giggled, very pleased with herself. She points at herself and says "Ella".

"Yes baby that's right! You're Ella! And I'm…" She stops herself. What is she? She knows what she wants to be. She knows what she's ready to be without hesitation. But she's scared to confuse Ella and thinks that maybe this is something she should talk to Brittany about. In her hesitation though, Ella found something else.

"Cup!" Ella exclaims excitedly holding up her cup. Santana laughs. Brittany walks out of the bathroom just in time to see Santana laughing with Ella and it makes her stop in her tracks. She's always thought a laughing and smiling Santana was the most beautiful version of her that she'd ever seen. But this was someone even more beautiful.

"You're right!" Santana claps. Ella bounces a little in her joy. Santana recognizes the words she's using as things that they'd taught her at the daycare, and it helps the guilt she feels a little to know that they were able to make a lasting enough impression on this little girl's difficult life. She see's Brittany standing near the bathroom. "Watch this Brit! Hey Ella what are you holding?"

"CUP!" Ella yells. No doubt trying to get another excited reaction out of Santana. Which she of course does. Santana picks her up and kisses her face telling her how smart she is. While Brittany walks over and kisses both of their cheaks.

"I'm gonna start teaching her Spanish I think. You think that's ok Brit?"

"I think if we're going to do it, now is the best time. Maybe it'll help me learn a little better too." Brittany had been working on Spanish nearly the entire time she knew Santana. Picking up things here or there. She knew all of the curse words for sure. She wouldn't say she was fluent at all, but she could figure out what was being said in a conversation. She's glad she'd at least be able to help Santana reinforce Ella's Spanish.

They put Ella down and spend a few more minutes kissing each other gently until Ella points at herself again and says "Ella!" which makes them laugh some more. They get dressed and head downstairs to eat breakfast and to try and talk a little about the days plan. The get a table off to the side and start eating, Ella clearly going for the record of most mess made with pancakes. Deciding that they were far enough away from others and that Ella was sufficiently distracted, Santana brought up what neither of them wanted to discuss.

"So we should maybe discuss today's plan." Santana says. Brittany chews her fruit thoughtfully before nodding and swallowing.

"Do you think it's worth maybe staying here for another day? Ella could use the rest, and I'm sure it won't hurt us. Plus we have to make that call tomorrow and we have no idea what they're going to say. If they say go back to Ohio, we don't want to go further out of the way do we?"

"No I think you're probably right. Staying still makes me nervous but I feel like this is as unsuspecting as any other place." Brittany nods putting more banana in front of Ella.

"I mean we'll play it by ear but maybe sitting still is the best thing we can do right now."

Santana nods in agreement. She doesn't know that sitting still is the best option. But she doesn't know that continuing to move is either. So they finish their breakfast and go back up to the room. They decide bath/shower time is in serious need of happening so they get Ella in the tub first with plenty of bath toys. Ella quickly decides that bath time is fabulous, and then shortly after that decides that she'd like to climb out of the tub now. They finish washing her up and pull her out and dry her off. Santana dresses Ella and brushes out her hair while Brittany gets in the shower. After she's done Santana spends several minutes admiring a view of Brittany in a very small towel bent over trying to find clothes in a suitcase. Brittany stands back up and catches Santana staring and throws a pillow at her laughing. Santana smiles and gets in the shower herself.

After she gets out of the shower she sees that Brittany is laying on the bed in just a tank top and underwear and that Ella is passed out on a blanket on the floor. Santana puts on sleep shorts and a tank top as well and crawls in next to Brittany who quickly wraps her up in her arms pulling her close. "I love you Santana. I don't tell you enough but I love you."

"I love you too B. Always." Brittany leans in and kisses Santana slowly and deeply. The Latina pushes her hand underneath Brittany's top and slowly runs her fingers up and down her back. This isn't sex. They wouldn't do that with Ella in the room in this situation. It is just about feeling close, and feeling connected. They both fall into light sleeps eventually, content with taking a nap having nothing else to do.

After a short while, Santana hears a light knock on the door, she gets up trying not to wake anybody else, but feeling suspicious as to why someone might be at her door. She looks out of the peep hole and notes that it's an older woman she'd seen working the front desk earlier. "Hello" She says politely. "Can I help you?"

"Um…ma'am this might sound strange and I-I just had a bad feeling so I thought I'd come tell you. Some one called earlier asking for a Brittany and Santana and gave me a description of you and the woman you were with as well as the child. (Santana's breath catches) Now at first I was confused because the description matched you two but your names are Anna and Sara." Santana manages to nod, remembering that she'd given her fake names for them. "But after the description I was pretty sure he meant you two. But I didn't feel good about him asking so I told him I didn't know anybody by those names. He eventually hung up but I don't think he believed me, and I don't know what this situation is but I just thought, you're both so nice…maybe I should let you know." The woman finshed. Santana took a moment to compose herself, letting this woman know how terribly afraid she was in this moment wouldn't help the situation. It would lead to panic, and panic got people hurt.

She thanks the woman and asks her not to mention it to anyone as she goes back inside and closes the door. She walks back over to the bed where Brittany is lying awake with an expression of fear on her face. "What was that about San?" Santana explains what the woman just told her.

"I think we need to get ready to leave as calmly and quickly as possible." Santana says after she finishes the story. Brittany is sitting there, eyes slightly wide, but she nods and they both get up packing anything that laid about. They both put on clothes and started to run things out to the car. Santana had just made the last trip out, all that was left was her, Brittany, Ella and the blanket Ella was sleeping on. As she got almost back to the door of their room she looks out into the parking lot and sees the man from the hospital. She quietly goes back into the room and tells Brittany. She calls the front desk and tells the woman that she needs to call the Police immediately and that she should avoid mentioning them at any cost as it will only make things harder for everyone. She hangs up before the woman can even respond. Brittany is clutching a still sleeping Ella, wrapped in a blanket, to her chest.

"Ok B. Lets do this. Quickly as possible. Don't even put her in the car seat, just get in the passenger seat, I'll drive." Brittany nods quickly and Santana senses that she's fast approaching her emotional breaking point. She puts her hand on her arm. "Ok lets go." She pulls her out of the door, and lets her hand fall from Brittany's arm as she gets to the car, they both jump in. As they shut the door, Santana sees the man look in their direction. "Oh shit" She says out loud as she starts the car and slams it into drive. She peels out of the spot and is headed for the exit when in her rearview mirror she sees the man pull out a gun. He shoots twice at the car. Santana thinks it could have been more but her anxiety had taken over and she just drove as fast as she could. She quickly glanced at Brittany a few times to make sure that she hadn't been hurt in any way but she was still sat there clutching the baby.

Santana drives for an hour before she thinks she's taken another breath. She's sure she breathed in that hour but she has no memory of it and certainly feels like she hasn't. She looks to her right and sees that Brittany is in the exact same position, only now she's shaking violently and tears are streaming down her face. Ella is also awake now and whimpering quietly like she knows something's wrong but now is definitely not the time for crying. Santana finds an obscure road and pulls off onto it before pulling over.

She reaches out to touch Brittanys arm. Brittany screams and jerks away from Santana. The Latina whispers calming words and noises to Brittany until she can manage to pull Ella out of her hands. Santana leans over the seat putting Ella safely in her car seat and handing her a toy. She then turns back to Brittany and with all her strength pulls Brittany across the seat onto her lap. The blonde buries her face into Santana's neck and starts sobbing. She cries for a few minutes, Santana holding her tightly, until her sobs evened out slightly. "Ok B. I need to start driving again. But you're ok. We're all ok. And I promise you I will do absolutely anything to protect all of us. We're going to be ok." Brittany nods, still sniffling, and Santana helps her back into her seat.

She turns the radio on low hoping it will sooth a still worried looking Ella. It does the trick and before to long she's fallen asleep. "I think we should keep driving till we have to make the call." Brittany finally says after another two hours of driving west. "I think we can trade off. Or both sleep in the car for a little. We bought blankets. But no more real stopping till after the call."

"Ok Britt. I think that is the best plan too." Brittany nods. After another hour, and no signs of being followed, Brittany's posture relaxes slightly and she offers to drive. They stop at a restaurant for quick dinner and to fuel up on coffee. They drive for another hour before Ella is starting to get restless. They stop for a little bit at a truck stop with a grassy area. They're watching Ella play, while also watching their surroundings. A woman walks up to them, and it takes everything in Brittany not to grab Ella and Santana's hand and run. But she doesn't.

"Your family is beautiful. I just wanted to let you know." They both smiled and said their thanks and the moment helps them feel a little bit lighter. It also makes them feel a little bit stronger because they both know they are protecting their family. They get back in the car and continue to take turns driving until a few hours before dawn when they agree that maybe they should stop for a few hours and rest. So they pull off into what looked like a camp grounds but nobody was there. Turned off the car and pulled some blankets over top. Santana reached her hand out for Brittany who took it. She wasn't sure she could sleep without touching at least some part of her.

"Brit what do we tell Ella we are to her?" Brittany looks over at Santana slightly confused. "Today Ella pointed at her self and said 'Ella' and I nearly pointed at myself and said 'Mami'" She blushed slightly at the memory.

"I think we should wait till we know what this phone call is going to bring. But…Santana I fully intend that that's what we'll be to her. No matter what happens she's ours." Santana smiled and fought the tears coming to her eyes. She wasn't sure what they were for. Happiness from Brittany's words, sorrow for Ella's past, fear for their situation. She did her best to stop thinking and focus on the feeling of Brittany's warm hand in hers. It worked and shortly she fell asleep for a few hours.

When they woke up they decided that they'd find somewhere to eat breakfast, and then find a place to make the phone call because it'd be about that time. They found a small mom and pop place and stopped to eat breakfast and used to bathroom to clean up a bit and brush their teeth. Ella did not love, nor seem used to a tooth brush, so that was a continual struggle for them but she seemed to be getting a bit better. After they were done they drove around the small town looking for a pay phone. When they found on they waited a bit. Santana dug out the phone number as well as a pencil and paper in case she needed to write anything down. At the right time they all got out, Brittany holding Ella, and crowded around the pay phone. Santana put the money in, dialed the number and it rang.

And then nothing. Nobody picked up and the phone eventually just stopped ringing and disconnected. Santana's money emptied back into the slot. They look at each other for a minute unsure of what to do. "Should I call back?"

"Maybe. I don't know what else to do." Just as Santana was about to put the change back into the slot, the phone started ringing. She nervously picked it up.

"Hello?"

"Tracking starts in 25 seconds. They might already know where you are. Go to this address. It's safe. Never call this number again." He gave her the address which she wrote down, he repeated it quickly and hung up. Santana looked at Brittany.

"We need to get moving." Santana states through tight lips as they get back into the car. Brittany straps Ella in tightly giving her toys and juice and then gets into the front seat.

"What did they say?"

"To go to this address they gave me, that it's safe."

"That's all?" Brittany asks slightly angry that there wasn't more hope or answers. Santana nods grabbing the GPS and plugging it back in. Truthfully she had no real idea where she was. They'd just kept driving. "Where are we going then?"

"Colorado."


	6. Chapter 6

Santana thinks she might hate driving. She had always loved it. Long drives with Brittany. But right now it was late, and Brittany was sleeping, and Ella has literally just been staring at her from the car seat pouting for an hour. Not crying, not anything, just pouting. The Latina feels terrible. She's not entirely sure what to do to fix the situation. They can't stop, not for more than a few hours, not until they get to Colorado. She's not sure if there are answers there, or just more confusing mess, but it's all she has in the moment to hold onto. The only hope she has that she might be able to find a way to keep her family well and truly safe.

Ella sighs. Such a big sigh for such a little girl. "Big sigh huh Ella?" She says out loud. She realizes she hasn't used her voice in a little while. With her pout still in place Ella nods.

"Ella." She responds. Ella has taken it upon herself to occasionally say her own name. Just reminding them that she's there Santana thinks. She also thinks that if Ella knew more words that she might use those too. If only they weren't in this stupid car. They need to get out of this car. Even if just for a little bit. Her stomach rumbles, problem solved.

"Hey Brit, baby wake up." She lightly tickles Brittany's knee to wake her up. Brittany sits up with a start.

"What? Is everything ok?"

"Yeah babe. Ella and I were just talking and she said she's hungry and would like to get out of the car and actually sit down and eat somewhere."

"Oh did she say that? Did you say that Ella?"

"Ella!" Ella squeals loudly. It'd been some time since they were both awake and she clearly wanted some attention. They both laugh as she bounces and kicks her feet up and down.

"We can leave her in her PJ's, yeah? I feel like it's too cold to change her."

"She's a baby and it's late. I think that's fine." Santana smiles over at Brittany, taking her hand and gently stroking her knuckles. They pull off at the next exit that looks promising and pull into an all night diner. Santana looks around for a few minutes. Not sure what she's looking for, but constantly on the look out nonetheless, she sees nothing immediately suspicious so she unbuckles and gets out of the seat.

When she opens up the door Ella is turned towards her in the car seat, both arms out stretched clenching and unclenching her tiny hands. "Up! Ella up!"

"That's right baby. Ella up. So smart." Santana pulls her out of the seat and nuzzles her nose into Ella's warm cheek before blowing a raspberry against her neck making Ella scream with laughter. Brittany watches on, heart clenching as it always does when she sees these little moments between them.

They head into the diner, hand in hand, Ella clutching to Santana like a tiny monkey. Santana notes that she thinks maybe Ella hasn't had a lot of comfort in her life, but she likes to think that her and Brittany have been providing it to her at least in small doses for a few months now. She doesn't seem uncomfortable or afraid of them at all. She hasn't once asked for her mother or father as most children do when they were afraid. And Ella has been afraid many times. She just clutches to her or Brittany. Whether or not it's rational, Santana kind of hopes that means that they are as family to her as she is to them.

Once they get seated and get menu's they try to figure out what to order. They opted again to just split food with Ella because Santana doesn't think the things on the kid's menu look very good for kids. Plus, so far, Ella hasn't not liked anything they've given her and she thinks it's kind of neat to watch her try new things. There's nothing new or particularly nutritious about hamburgers, hot dogs, and pizza. The waitress comes over.

"Aren't you just precious. And so wide awake so late. I wish I had her stamina." The waitress laughs. Santana doesn't know how to respond. She feels like she's losing her ability to talk to strangers because she feels like everyone is a potential threat. But just as she's always done, Brittany is there to pick up when Santana doesn't know how to handle something.

"Oh we're just going on vacation across country and have been in the car all day, so I think she's just slept as much as she can. And now she's ready to party pancake style!" Brittany's excitement in her voice causes Ella to yell out in excitement. They all laugh.

"What can I get you three ladies?"

"I'll have pancakes, and do you have any fresh fruit?" The waitress nods. "I'll have that too. Thank you." Brittany smiles graciously. Santana is, as usual, momentarily distracted by her smile. When she finally regains focus they are both looking at her. She blushes and clears her throat.

"I will have an omelet with mushrooms, tomatoes, and ham. Thank you." The waitress nods and walks away with a friendly smile. Santana takes a sip of her water before turning to Ella. "Hey Ella" Ella looks at her Santana points to the cup and says "cup. This is a cup. Can you say that? Cup." Ella looks at her for a moment. And then looks over to Brittany as if to see if she could say cup.

"Cup." She points to her cup too. Hoping that Ella will copy them. Brittany knows this is how babies learn, and while Ella is behind developmentally, she knows that they can help her catch up.

Ella cocks her head to the side and points at her own sippy cup. "Cup?" She inflects at the end as if to ask if that is in fact a cup.

"Yes! Cup! Smart smart baby!" Santana laughs. She can't begin to describe the joy she feels knowing that she can teach her, and help her, and it makes her excited and hopeful that she'll get to raise her.

"ELLA CUP!" Ella yells loudly, excited by the reactions she's eliciting from Brittany and Santana. She excitedly bangs her cup a few times against the table. They both laugh and look around the restaurant hopeful, but not to concerned, that they aren't disturbing anyone. The only person to be seen is an older man a few tables away.

"That must be a very exciting cup." He smiles at them as if to say, it's ok, keep going. Do your family thing. At least that's what Santana is going to take that look as, because she really wants to do this family thing. Moments later, Ella discovers her new favorite game. She holds up an object, and they tell her what it is. Once in a while she'll repeat it back to them. Or she'll call a crayon a cup, or the spoon a dog. But Santana thinks she's a genius, and she can see how crayon and cup can be confusing. And spoons and dogs are basically the same thing. She is completely convinced this kid is a genius.

Brittany continues to observe. She thinks if she knew how ready and amazing of a parent Santana was, maybe they would have gotten married and had kids already. But she thinks that maybe this is how fate works, and maybe they were waiting for this baby. Fate is funny, but always right. She just hopes fate is kind to them with this. Because she's not sure how she would recover if anything happened to the girls in front of her.

She's snapped out of her thoughts by the arrival of the food. They both cut up parts of their food and put it in front of Ella. Not even noticing how quickly they fall into this routine. First baby, then you. But it's easy, and natural, and wonderful. Santana wonders how Ella will take to mushrooms and tomatoes, but she needn't worry, Ella eats them with flourish, and a few lip smacks to show her approval. But more than the vegetables, pancakes or eggs, Ella loves strawberries they learn. Not sure if she's ever eaten them, Brittany put a little piece on her finger and offered it to Ella who ate it off of her finger. She took a moment to chew and contemplate but then came the biggest smile as she reached for more strawberries.

"Up!" They laugh. Close enough. Brittany cuts up more pieces of strawberry and some pieces of banana and melon too. As she eats each piece excitedly, Brittany tells her what it is. Ella nods like she already knows but is to busy chewing to repeat the words back. Genius, Santana thinks.

They finish eating and take Ella to the bathroom to change her and clean her up because she's somehow managed to get strawberry behind her ears. They head out to the car. "I'm so glad we stopped San. I'm glad you thought to. I think we needed that. That's the most she ate since the day before we left Lima."

"I was getting restless too. I could only imagine how hard it was for her. She seems like she is getting better, the medicine must be helping."

"She seems happier too. I know a lot has happened, but I don't think I've heard this much out of her ever." Santana looks in the rearview mirror as Ella was having what seemed to be a very intense conversation with her cup and a penguin Santana was pretty sure she kept calling fork. She'd explain it some other time, because for now, fork seemed like a fine name for a penguin. The Latina nods in agreement.

Brittany starts the car and they get back on the road. At this rate, they would be there sometime tomorrow early evening, with some stops built in. Not long after Ella delivered what, in baby speech, was a very impressive speech to anyone who would listen (which was of course her and Santana, and Fork the penguin, and Cup the cup) she fell asleep pretty quickly. Santana wasn't to far behind her. So Brittany turned some music on low, and did her best not to sing out loud.

They stopped twice more through the night for gas and bathroom breaks and to switch who was driving. Ella slept the entire time. Even when Brittany got her out of the car to take her in to change her, she stayed asleep. She woke up with the jostling of being lifted out of the car, but she was too tired to stay awake for more than few seconds. Once they were back on the road with Santana driving Brittany tried to fall asleep but she couldn't. "Do you think this will all turn out ok San?"

Santana thought Brittany had fallen asleep as soon as they got back on the road, so the sound of her voice startled her. "I think it has to." She said with finality. Brittany nodded. She didn't know what else to ask or say, she agreed completely. She thinks maybe she wishes she could know how it was going to turn out ok. But she knows Santana does know that yet. So she figures she'll ask other things.

"Once we find a home, and she gets old enough, private or public school?" Santana smiles at the question.

"No idea. We both went to public schools our whole lives. I don't know a lot about private ones. I think I'd want to look at all the schools around, talk to the teachers, maybe make a decision that way."

"I want her to go some place maybe with a little less pressure and focus on popularity than we did."

"I think that happens everywhere baby. But we'll teach her those things don't matter. She's smarter than us I think. She won't take most of high school to figure it out. But if she does, we'll love her bratty ass anyway."

Brittany laughs and smacks Santana's thigh. "Don't swear San! She will literally repeat everything you say. That's how she's learning right now." Santana laughs imagining Ella calling some nice old lady a bratty ass.

Santana loved the hypothetical questions. She loved thinking about Ella growing up with them. But the idea scared her. Not so much the idea, but her attachment to the idea because nobody had any idea what was going on, or where they were headed, they didn't know very much at all.

They talked for a little longer about things they can't wait to do when they aren't in a car for so many hours. Santana knew Brittany wasn't sleeping because she was anxious, so in an effort to help her love get some rest, she sang softly to her. She wasn't surprised to find when she looked over a few moments later that Brittany had nodded off. Hands still clasped together.

Once they got closer to the address anxiety starts running high. Even Ella senses it as she makes very little noise, holding Fork and looking out of the window. Finally they were in front of the address. Santana looked at Brittany, who looked back at her and nodded once. They got out of the car and hugged each other for a moment. They were both terrified. It hadn't occurred to Santana that this could be a trap until they had already pulled up. But nobody came out shooting, and she hoped it would stay that way.

Brittany got Ella out of the car, and they held hands and walked slowly up to the door. Santana could feel her heart beating out of her chest, and she could feel how tense Brittany was next to her. Ella was doing what she does best, burying her face in someone's neck, clutching to Brittany's shirt like she wasn't ever going to let go. They got up to the door. Santana turned to Brittany and whispered, "I love you." Brittany whispered it back. Santana raised her hand to knock on the door and felt Brittany all but seize up next to her in fear. She knocked once, then twice before the door flew open.

A nerdy looking guy no older than they were thrusted a small suitcase into her hand and slammed the door. That…was unexpected. Santana wasn't sure what she expected but it wasn't that. It felt almost anticlimactic? Don't get her wrong, the more boring the better at this point. Nothing happening was a wonderful thing. But she was sure she'd at least get more answers or clues or…just anything. And now she was mad. She lifted her hand to start banging on the door again when she felt Brittany tug her in the opposite direction.

"I think we should leave San. Quicker the better." Logically, she knew Brittany was right. She almost always was. But all the adrenaline and anxiety she had felt was built up inside her and the only thing she wanted to do was punch that geeky fucker in the face. Ok Santana, cool it, she thought. She took a few breaths, and followed Brittany back to the car.

"Now what?" She asked as Brittany buckled Ella back into the seat, taking the suitcase from Santana and putting it into the back seat as well.

"Get in the car. I'll drive." Santana gets in. She looks over to confirm that Brittany's ok. She's in action mode, and that's ok, just so long as she's not freaking out. Santana might be freaking out. She's really confused. "I think we should go somewhere to open that box. Maybe not to far from here."

Santana pulls the GPS down and starts to look through nearby attractions. She finds a park that's about an hour away. She doesn't want to stay to close to the address. Brittany agrees and they're headed in the direction of some unknown park. Ella babbles in the back seat for a bit, Santana thinks to release some of her own anxiety. In order to be doing something with her hands, Santana leans over the seat and gets Ella a snack. Which she eats, and then falls asleep. They get to the park, there's nobody there. "Want to get out of the car and open it. We can just sit on the hood so Ella can see us if she wakes up?" Brittany asks. Santana nods and gets out, reaching into the back seat to grab the suitcase. They set it on the hood of the car.

"Ok let's do this B." They open up the suitcase. All they can see on top is a series of small and large envelopes. They pull out the top most envelopes, a regular letter sized one. In it is predictably a letter. A very short letter.

"Everything you'll need to start over. Or you can leave all of this behind. Leave the baby with no records or letters at a police station. You're far enough out that it should be ok. Choice is yours. Good luck." Santana reads quietly just loud enough for Brittany to hear.

"What the fuck?" She looks up at Brittany confused. This letter answered nothing, and suggested they leave this little girl abandoned at a police station in the same very short paragraph. Santana felt her anger rising. Brittany placed her palm on Santana's face and kissed her forehead.

"Calm down Santana. Lets finish looking, then you can get mad ok?" Santana takes a deep breath and nods. The next envelope she pulls out is much larger and fuller. She opens it up and it looks like pay stubs for the past year at a job she didn't have, as well as apartment rental receipts, and utility bills. All perfectly faked from a small town in Illinois. Brittan looks at her in confusion.

"I think it's so we can buy a house. We've never actually had to buy one, so I can't be sure but…I'm pretty sure this is all the information you need to prove your responsible enough to buy one." Santana tells her. She glances into the car, Ella is still asleep. Brittany pulls out the next envelope. She gasps, and tears fill her eyes, handing it to Santana while she puts her other hand over her mouth. Santana reads it.

"Certificate of marriage? Brit we're married." Her voice catches as she puts the forms down and hugs Brittany tightly, pulling her in and kissing her breathless. She doesn't know how else to react. She's married now. They'd always known they were going to get married, they just hadn't seen a reason to do it. They wanted to save money first, and then Brittany's mom had passed away. It just never seemed the right time. But now, here, in the park, potentially being chased by mobsters, sitting on the roof of their car, they were married. They pulled away from each other, knowing that they needed to keep going. She glanced at the certificate one last time. "Santana and Brittany Ramirez. I think they changed my last name. And then you took mine. Is that ok?"

Brittany smiled gently at her. "Perfect my beautiful wife. Perfect." Santana smiled back for a second before reaching into the suitcase for the next envelope. She read it out loud shakily.

"Birth certificate for Ella Ramirez. Oh my god Brit. It says you gave birth and I am listed as the second parent." Santana pauses for a second taking this in. She's theirs. "Brittany" Santana sobs out as Brittany clutches Santana close to her. Happy sobs wracking both of their bodies. Just then they heard another cry. Ella, it seems in the commotion had waken up, finding herself alone, started to cry. Santana walked over to the door and picked her up out of the car seat and brought her over to sit on the hood with her and Brittany and did something she had wanted to do for days.

She pointed at Ella and said "Ella." Ella nodded and with just a few more sniffles replied.

"Ella." Then Santana pointed to herself.

"Mami" As Santana said that Brittany started to cry again. Then Santana pointed at Brittany. "Momma. Ok baby girl?" They were now both standing pressed together, Ella leaning back in Santana's arms to study them. She reached up and touched Santana's face. Santana pointed at her again. "Ella" Ella nodded and said her name. Then she pointed at herself and said "Mami."

"Mami" Ella cautiously repeated. Brittany gasped as more tears ran out of her eyes. Santana was barely holding it together. She pointed at Brittany.

"Momma." She said in her best attempts to keep her voice clear so Ella could understand.

"Momma" Ella repeated with more confidence. Santana and Brittany both lost it and hugged her tighter. Pressing both their wet tear stained faces to hers. Kissing her cheeks and forehead while she giggled. When they pulled apart she reached for Brittany and Santana handed her off. Knowing they needed to get through the rest of the stuff in the suitcase. The next envelope had their driver's licenses in it, as well as new social security cards, including one for Ella Ramirez. Santana couldn't stop looking at all of their cards together. Her heart swelling more every second.

After all of the envelopes had been gone through and repacked, they unzipped the next compartment of the suitcase. They both gasped. Money. Santana couldn't even guess how much it was. A lot, she knew that much. Enough to help them get started in a new place, that's for sure, until they could new jobs. On top was a post it note.

"Unmarked and non counterfeit." That's good. I wouldn't have thought about that." Santana reads out loud. The last thing in there is a white bag with a note on it that says just in case. Santana looks inside and sees a small gun. Brittany standing behind her sees it too. "Oh God" they both yell before Santana puts the bag back in the case. She's not sure they'll keep that part of the suitcase. They pack everything back up and put the suitcase back in the car.

"Think we could let her run around a bit before we get back in the car?" Brittany asks. Santana was thinking the same thing. So they changed her out of pajamas and into clothes and put shoes on her and put her down on the ground. Ella runs in the grass, not going far from the both of them sitting and watching her close, still keeping an eye on their surroundings. "I can't believe we're married San."

"I always knew I would marry you. And now we are. And…just, she's ours. As long as we play it safe, she's forever and legitimately ours." She keeps the tears from coming to her eyes again. Despite everything that's happened in the past few days, she knows this is the happiest she's ever been. Ella comes back over before plopping down on Santana's lap. She points to herself.

"Ella." Santana nods, smiling. Ella points to Brittany.

"Momma?" Brittany grabs Santana's hand. Wondering when hearing Ella say that isn't going to make her heart want to explode.

"Mhmm. That's right baby girl." Santana nods, smiling at her excitedly. Ella bounces a little bit. And then she pokes her little finger into Santana's chest and says

"Mami!"

"You are so smart baby!" She hugs her to her for a moment before Ella gets distracted by something very interesting a few feet away. She grabs her trusty friend Fork and makes her way over to investigate. Brittany and Santana sit there watching Ella for a bit. The anxiety starts creeping back into Santana. "I don't feel very safe here Brit. We're still to close to where somebody connected to them knows us to be."

Brittany nods. "I agree. I think we should stick with our original plan. "

"Quinn's?" Santana asks. Brittany nods. They both return their focus to Ella and Fork, hoping that soon they'll be able to just stop moving.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: <strong>There you go! So flipping fluffy. So I'm thinking like... two or three more chapters plus epilogue. That's what the outline says anyway.

Review. Check out my other story. Find my tumblr. All of that lovely business.

K


	7. Chapter 7

It was late afternoon when Santana drove into LA. They had spent their college years here but having been in Lima for the past few seemed to have reset her understanding of how busy it was.

"It's been so long I feel like."

"Yeah. Agreed." They fell back into a comfortable silence as Santana followed the instructions of the GPS, and Brittany tried to calm a slightly fussy Ella.

"Almost there baby." Brittany told her as Ella tried desperately to figure out how to get out of her seat, permanent pout in place. That pout would kill her, Santana thought. That pout, combined with Brittany's pout. Murder. She hoped they'd never find a reason to gang up on her, but knew it was kind of inevitable.

"Mami Momma Mami Momma Ella" She said pitifully. They'd be at Quinn's soon. And then she could stretch out and play and sleep somewhere that wasn't her car seat. At least for a little bit.

"Think she's ever had ice cream San?" Santana shrugged. "We should get her some. While we are here. Just something fun."

"Definitely B." Santana was trying really hard to focus on the road. Get to Quinn's place, and things will be better. Technically it wasn't Quinn's place. It was her girlfriend's. Some hot shot actress that Santana wished she had paid a little more attention to when Quinn first started mentioning her. She was thankful that at least if she didn't know much about her career she had met her a few times over skype so they were at least vaguely familiar of each other. But she wished she had done the research. Now that she was about to invade her apartment and all. Assuming Quinn let them stay. She wouldn't turn them away would she? This was a lot of crazy but she was one of their best friends.

"What's going on?" Brittany asked as she gently tapped Santana's forehead.

"Quinn isn't going to turn us away is she? This is a lot to handle. And it isn't even her apartment." Brittany laced their fingers together. Santana felt a little calmer with just that small gesture.

"No San. She'd never turn us away."

"Ok. But just in case, make sure Ella is still pouting when we get there." Santana said as she looked in the rearview mirror as Ella let out a dramatic little sigh.

She pulled up to a building that looked kind of non descript. It didn't scream house or apartment building. But this is where they had sent Christmas cards last year, and Quinn definitely mentioned receiving it. There was no where to park anywhere near the place, she slowed to a stop in front of the building after her second pass, intent on getting out and asking someone where the best place to park was. But before she even explained this to Brittany there was a knock on their window, and both girls screamed. Santana was about to gun it but the confused look on the guys face, and his motioning to roll the window down made her think maybe it was ok.

"I'm sorry to have scared you miss. I was just wondering why you were parked out here."

"I'm looking for my friend's house. I think she lives here."

"Who's your friend?"

"Quinn Fabray. And her uh girlfriend Rachel?" The man, a guard of some kind Santana assumed looked at her skeptically. She maybe should have said that with more confidence.

"Are they expecting you?"

"No. Not even a little bit." She answered honestly. "Listen, can you just tell her Santana and Brittany are out here. It's really important." Ella started to whimper a little more at that moment. Santana was impressed by her timing. The security guard looked into the back seat and fell prey to the pout. Santana got it.

"Well. We don't usually do things like this but I guess I can maybe do it this once. Let me snap a picture of you real quick and then I'll go ask Miss Fabray if it would be ok to let you up." Santana stood still, annoyed with the prospect of having her picture taken after having not showered in at least twenty-four hours. The man walked away and Santana sat back in her seat reconnecting her hand with Brittany's. A few minutes later the man came back out. "She said to come up. I apologize ma'am. It's just protocol."

"I understand. Where should I park."

"If you just leave the keys in it, I will pull it into the underground lot."

"Oh. Ok. Guess that explains the lack of parking. Bitch has her own lot." She mumbled. Brittany shot her a warning look. Santana got out and went to the back seat to free Ella who practically clambered into her arms. "I got you baby. You're gonna meet Aunt Quinn."

"Fork?"

"Yep. Fork too." She reached in and grabbed Fork and Cup to take them inside with them as Brittany grabbed the diaper bag. She grabbed for Brittany's hand and walked through the front door just behind the guard. He locked it behind them before pushing the button for the elevator. Santana looked around. The room was pretty sparse. A desk with a lap top on it, one door other than the front door, and an elevator. When the elevator opened he punched in a series of numbers.

"This will take you right up. Nice meeting you!" He stepped out of the elevator.

"You too!" Brittany managed to get out just before it closed. Santana tightened her grip on Brittany's hand once again for her own comfort as the elevator made it's way up. Ella seemed to be sensing her anxiety and roughly planted her face right into Santana's shoulder. "You're like a little ostrich Ella." She patted her diaper covered bum a few times just before the door opened.

"I thought maybe he was joking, or mistaken when he said it was you two and a baby. But here you are. This is?" No formalities. No small talk. Exactly how Quinn Fabray had always been and somehow that made Santana feel more comfortable instantly. Brittany pulled them out of the elevator and put her free arm around Quinn.

"This is Ella." Brittany cooed trying to coax Ella out of Santana's hair. She put the diaper bag down and reached out and rubbed Ella's back. The little girl just tightened her hold on Santana. "Baby Ella. Come out for momma please?"

"Come on." Santana added. Brushing her own hair away so that it was no longer covering Ella's face. Brittany could see Ella peaking out at them with one eye. She reached her arms out and Ella went to her but maintained a grip on Santana's shoulder.

"God she's adorable." Quinn commented as soon as she saw her. "But where?"

"Mami?" Ella looked at Santana with a confused expression on her face. She had been to hotels. She had been to restaurants. But she hadn't had much simple interaction with people so Santana understood her confusion.

"Did she just call you mami?" Quinn asked, a touch of shock bleeding it's way into her words. Santana and Brittany both nodded.

"A lot has happened. More than I could ever explained since we last talked to you. And I will tell you every bit of it. But can we do it tomorrow? If you let us stay that is. Just for a bit. Or we could get a ho-"

"Santana stop. Your family. Of course you can stay here. And I'm not letting my new favorite niece stay in a hotel when we have plenty of room here." She reached out her hand and brushed a lock of hair out of Ella's eyes. "For as long as you need. Seriously Santana. No explanations needed. Although I would like some."

"Everything tomorrow. I promise. Can I put her down?" Quinn took a glance around the room. Thankful that the designer had chosen something minimal with gentle curves. She didn't see anything Ella could hurt herself on easily.

"Of course. I think it's pretty safe." Santana lowered Ella to the ground and Ella promptly began to explore under their watchful eye. After she had done a quick overview of the room she came back to Santana.

"Cup?" She asked very seriously. Santana grabbed her cup out of her pocket and handed it to her. "Fork?" She handed her the penguin as well. Every great room explorer needs her side kicks.

"She is the sweetest thing I've ever seen. Seriously." Brittany and Santana both nod simultaneously. The elevator door opens, scaring both of them out of their Ella induced stupor and they whip around. Rachel was standing there looking like Christmas had come early.

"I rushed home as soon as I got your text!" Quinn looked at her watch.

"You must have. You have all met over skype but Rachel this is Brittany and Santana."

"Hello it's a pleasure to make your-Holy Barbara who is that?" Rachel exclaimed enthusiastically while pointing just behind Brittany. Brittany turned around and the sudden outburst combined with the sudden focus shift to her overwhelmed Ella and she just sat down and started to cry. Brittany turned to pick her up and held her close. Her cries stopped almost immediately but she was still sniffling.

"This is our daughter." Santana explained in a calm voice. Trying to indicate to Rachel that perhaps she should also be a little more calm.

"You didn't have a daughter. Quinn would have told me. When did-"

"Later honey. We'll all talk about it later. Ok?" Quinn leaned down and kissed Rachel's cheek. Placating her for the time being.

Rachel slowly approached Brittany's shoulder. "I'm sorry I scared you. I can be a little loud. My name is Rachel. What's your name?" Ella looked at Brittany.

"Tell her your name." Brittany took her free hand and pointed at herself. "Momma." And then she pointed at Ella's chest and paused waiting for Ella to figure out what she was asking.

"Ella." Ella answered quietly but confidently.

"So smart." Brittany responded as she watched Rachel try very hard to stay calm.

They moved into the living room and sat down on the couch. A few minutes later Ella had decided that it was ok to resume exploration of the room, and climbed off of Brittany's lap. They chatted a little bit about LA but mostly Brittany and Santana just watched Ella, which was quickly becoming their favorite activity, and Ella's quick decision to trust Rachel. Which mostly involved Rachel adding some plastic fruit and a few large bowls to Ella's collection of things to play with. "What do you ladies want for dinner? I can send someone out for takeout. Anything you want."

"Do you think we could maybe use a bathroom first. Ella needs a bath and we kind of need showers too." Brittany asked. Rachel jumped up.

"Of course! Let me show you your room. The second full bath is right across the hall. Do you want Ella to sleep in a room with you? Or I have another spare bedroom. We can set her crib up in there." Alone time sounded amazing right about now. But not entirely possible.

"She has to sleep with us. We don't have a crib. She's too little to sleep in a bed by herself." Brittany answered knowing exactly what Santana was thinking.

"Not a problem at all." Rachel pulled out her cell phone and dialed a number. Before Santana could ask what she was doing she had already put the phone to her ear. "Hello. I need one of this portable baby crib things. And some baby monitors. And could you please have someone else bring up" she pulled the phone away from her ear for a second. "Do you want everything brought up?" They both nodded dumbly. "Bring up everything in our guests car. Quickly. Thank you." She hung up the phone. "Of course she can still sleep in your room but now there are options."

"I-Thank you?" Santana wasn't even sure what just happened. Rachel waved her off and continued showing them around. After the tour was ended and all of their bags had been brought up they took Ella to the bathroom and gave her a bath. She played for a bit before she decided there were better things to do than this, and started trying to climb out of the tub. They finished rinsing her and Brittany pulled the slippery baby out of the tub and wrapped her in a towel.

Brittany had noticed through out the bath that Santana was becoming more and more quiet. Now she was just sat on the toilet staring at the floor. This was Santana letting things catch up with her. This was all of that anxiety that she had managed to push down for days finally over flowing now that she felt a little bit safe. Brittany knew this because Brittany knew Santana. She made quick work of rediapering Ella and putting a little dress on her. She picked her up and brought her out to Quinn and Rachel.

"Think you guys could keep an eye on her for a few minutes. I think Santana needs a minute to decompress. She's a little overwhelmed." Quinn nodded. Knowing exactly what an overwhelmed Santana looked like. Brittany sat Ella down and went back into the bathroom. She shut and locked the door and helped Santana stand up. "Come on baby. Let's take a shower." She tugged Santana's shirt over her head and started to unbutton her pants.

Santana hated how helpless she was right now but it felt like her body just caught up with her brain and everything was working on overdrive but kind of not working at all. Brittany ran her hands up and down her naked arms before throwing all of her own clothes off and starting the shower. She pulled Santana inside and began washing her hair. "I can do it." Santana mumbled, embarrassed.

"I know. But I want to." So Santana just stood there while Brittany washed her hair, and then her own. Then her body with a tenderness that Santana felt like she hadn't had in so long. So incredibly long. The gentle touches broke her out of her head and she started to cry. She didn't even know why she was crying.

Brittany did. She knew that this was exactly where this was headed. She wrapped her arms around the smaller woman and kissed the top of her head. Santana just cried into Brittany's chest for several minutes, clinging tightly to her. After about ten minutes the crying stopped. Brittany pulled back a little to look into Santana's now red eyes. "Better?" Santana nodded and smiled sheepishly. "I thought so." They finished their shower, got out and got redressed.

Santana blow dried her hair for the first time in what felt like forever. Just the simple convenience of having time to be able to do that made her feel even better. Clean and much less anxious they went back out into the living room to find Quinn taking a picture of Ella and Rachel under a table with bowls on their head.

They sit down in the living room area next to Quinn and start the discussion about what they would like to order. Brittany's only request is vegetables. They haven't eaten nearly enough in the past few days. "What things will Ella eat?" Quinn asks while looking through her phone at their favorite options.

"Anything. She hasn't disliked anything we've given her. Just maybe nothing too spicy." They settle on a vegetarian place that Rachel is particularly found of. They each order something different with the intent to share.

After dinner Rachel gets a call and moments later the elevator opens. A rather flamboyant looking guy in a suit comes through carrying several bags, and the man that had greeted them outside earlier is carrying a large box. "Hello. I'm Kurt. I'm Rachel's assistant. Can we go through what I bought quickly Rachel? I have a date and I'm going to be late." Rachel skips over clapping. He first gestures to the fold up portable crib and the baby monitors. Then he pulls out a bedding set and matching stuffed animals.

"I bought a few other things I thought might be essential. Although I've never had a child, so I'm not sure. Alright. Am I released for the night or do you need help setting up?"

"No I think we're alright. Thank you uh Kurt. I'm Brittany by the way. And this is Santana. And Ella."

"Oh my God I want to dress her! She's perfect!" His exuberance startled Ella who was tired and truthfully should have been in bed hours ago.

"Soon Kurt. You can go. Have fun with Blaine!" They kissed each other on the cheeks and he skipped out. "So what's next ladies?"

"We need to get her to sleep. If that's ok? And we are really tired ourselves." Although Santana had said it, Brittany hadn't ever heard a truer statement. She was exhausted. Mentally and physically.

"Of course. Let's get this stuff set up." Quinn grabbed the box that held the crib and walked to the guest room next to the one that Brittany and Santana are staying in. They unpacked the crib and set it out. While they set up the monitors and put blankets and Fork into the crib Santana changed Ella and put her in pajamas. Quinn and Rachel left while Santana and Brittany put her in the crib. Ella wasn't to fond of her new bed at first. She pouted and cried a little. But they stayed with her and just when Brittany thought it would be fine if she stayed with them one more night, she started to fall asleep.

They tiptoed out and went into their bedroom and collapsed on the bed. "I am so tired."

"Me too." Santana agreed.

"But I still want you naked." Santana turned toward Brittany at her blunt statement. "I miss you. We haven't touched each other for days. Which feels like months." She rolled over and pinned Santana to the bed. She leaned down to kiss her and then sat up and pulled off her own shirt before encouraging Santana to do the same.

They fell asleep an hour later happy and sated. Santana relishing in the feel of her naked body pressed against Brittany's for the first time in too long.

Brittany work up first the next morning. She spent the minutes before Santana woke as well trailing her fingertips over her collarbone and over her breasts reveling in the intimacy. They had always had a very physical relationship and Brittany felt better now having been able to express that. When she saw Santana's eyes flutter open she leaned in and kissed her tenderly.

"I miss waking up like this." Santana leaned up for another kiss. "Ella awake yet?"

"I haven't heard anything yet." They listen for a second. They don't ear anything, in fact, they hear dead silence. Last night when they had laid down to go to sleep they listened to the little noises Ella made when she slept but now they heard nothing. "San?" They both looked at each other and jumped up. Brittany grabbed a robe but Santana just kept the sheet wrapped around herself and they ran to Ella's room.

"Where is she?" Santana yelled when she was met with an empty crib. Brittany ran forward pulling the blanket out hoping Ella was somehow just sleeping underneath it.

"Guys! Santana!" They both turned around to see Quinn standing there. "Calm down. She's with Rachel! I promise she's ok."

"Fuck Quinn." Santana hugs Brittany who has tears in her eyes. "You can't fucking do that."

"Can't take the baby to another part of the house so that you guys can sleep longer?"

"She's still here?" Brittany wiped her eyes and looked expectantly at Quinn.

"Yeah Britt. Rachel and one of her body guards have her down playing in the pool. We woke up this morning and checked in on her and she was Standing up in the crib playing with her penguin. Why does she call it a fork?"

"No. Fork. That's it's name."

"Oh. Well. She was being really quiet so I guess she didn't wake you. But she looked ready to get out so we took her out and fed her some breakfast. And you were both still asleep so I suggested Rachel take her to the pool so that I could talk to you guys about what's going on. And we can start with who is she? And why do you immediately assume something terrible has happened to her?"

"Can we get dressed first?" Santana asked with more bite than she had intended.

"Please." Quinn walked into the living room, assuming they would come when they got dressed. They came in several minutes later now considerably less naked. "Ok. Start from the beginning."

"It's a really long story. But Ella used to be one of our daycare clients." They launched into the details of the past few days and how they came to get here. "We're sorry to come running to you in so much trouble. And we understand if you want us to go. The last thing we need is to bring any kind of harm to the both of you." Santana finished up.

"So she's just yours now?" Quinn ignored her comment. Brittany got up and grabbed her purse. Just as she was pulling out the legal documents they had gotten Rachel came back up with Ella. Santana jumped up and took Ella from Rachel. She knew she was fine but she couldn't help but feel relieved now that her baby was back. She wondered if it would always feel like this. "Hey baby. Did you guys have fun?"

"We did. Ella loves swimming but isn't too fond of being held by men." The comment made Brittany sad. She couldn't help but think about all of the reasons Ella might be weary of men. Quinn watched her face fall and decided to steer the conversation back on topic.

"So she's yours?" She prompted again. Brittany nodded, snapping out of her thoughts, and handed Quinn the documents. "Wow Britt. Your body is banging for having just birthed this kid eighteen months ago. I bet not a single stretch mark." Rachel and Santana both nodded their heads in agreement.

"Rachel! Why are you agreeing."

"Purely observational. So is someone going to tell me what's going on?" Santana rolled her eyes and told an extremely truncated version of the story to Rachel who gasped and reacted in all of the right places. "I can appreciate the drama in all of this."

"Right. Well we were just telling Quinn that if it makes you uncomfortable or scared we can go. We understand that this isn't something you guys signed up for." Santana really hoped that Rachel wouldn't just tell them to leave. She didn't have another plan just yet and could use a few days to figure it out. Plus she could see how well Ella was doing not being locked in a seat for hours on end.

"No. Of course not. You'll stay here as long as you like. Here is the safest place for you probably. I have body guards and building guards. Not to mention they wouldn't dream of coming near me. I'm too high profile and too well loved. It would be a publicity nightmare for them."

"We don't know how to thank you Rachel. You've done so much." Brittany hugs Rachel and sits back down next to Santana and Ella. "You've had a big day so far huh? Did you go swimming?" Ella rubs her face into Santana's shirt in response to Brittany's question. She looks like she needs a nap.

"Mami". She lays her head down and clutches Santana's shirt in both of her tiny fists. Eyelids getting heavier and heavier.

"I never thought I'd see the day Santana Lopez." Quinn shakes her head. But she has to admit motherhood looks good on Santana. It gives her another outlet to funnel her protective energy into. And she's never seen Santana look at anybody the way she looks at Ella, except Brittany.

"Go ahead and nap little girl. Then maybe we can do something fun with Aunt Quinn and Aunt Rachel." Santana looks up in time to see Rachel start fanning herself with both hands, tears pooling in her eyes.

"I'm Aunt Rachel." She whispers dramatically flinging herself onto Quinn who just laughs and pats her back supportively.

Santana can't stop the laugh that bubbles from her chest. She feels light like she hasn't in days. She wonders how long it can possibly last.


	8. Chapter 8

**AN:** This has taken an incredibly long time to get to all of you, and I'm sorry for that. But, here it is. This is the last chapter, and I will be posting an epilogue tomorrow. I hope that you enjoy it, and I can't thank all of you enough for your comments and your patience.

* * *

><p>The first thing Santana realizes when she wakes up is that there is an unidentified wet substance on her cheek. She blearily opens one eye and see's Ella hovering over top of her with a wide smile. Brittany is laughing as she tells Ella "Give Mami another kiss." Ella bends down and slobbers on her face some more. It's perfect. "You fell asleep. Well you both did. But Ella is up now, and you promised something fun and now we want to do that." Brittany was straddling her legs holding a squirmy Ella to her chest.<p>

"How about ice cream?" Santana suggests reaching up to grab Ella's feet and kick them up and down. "Want to try ice cream baby girl?"

"Ella!" She screeched, Santana nodded laughing.

"I'm going to ask Rachel and Quinn if they want to come." Brittany states letting go of Ella so she quickly crawls up Santana's stomach, lying on her chest clutching Fork. "She might need changed. Put some clothes on the mostly naked baby." Santana winced as Ella's knee dug into her stomach. She patted her diapered bottom lightly, smiling as Ella started laughing again and babbling about something that sounds very exciting. She scoops her up while quickly getting to her feet and blowing raspberries on the baby's tummy.

Oddly enough, Ella didn't seem to phased by ice cream. Santana thought it might have been because it was too cold. So far her favorite food still seemed to be mashed fruit and pancakes. What she did seem excited about was learning new words. She would point to something, and they would all tell her what it was. Occasionally she would repeat it back to them, and relish in their excited praises. But mostly, she just seemed genuinely curious, which made Santana and Brittany incredibly happy.

Even after ice cream, she still seemed to have so much energy. "I wish we could take her to the park." Brittany sighed out as she wiped Ella's sticky hands.

"Why don't we? We don't have any plans." Rachel asked.

"I don't know if it's safe. You're not exactly the lowest key person to be around Rach. I am terrified the paparazzi is going to get a shot of us with you or something. Then everyone is in danger. I think maybe ice cream was enough of an outing for today." Santana explained.

"While I understand, and feel as though your concerns are completely valid, I'm not exactly the kind of celebrity the paps are dying to get pictures of. Quinn and I lead a very boring and domestic life by their standards. But there are certainly alternatives. We know she likes to swim. I'm certain Quinn and I have suits that would fit you two. Perhaps an evening in the pool would be fun?"

Once they got back to the apartment and everyone got changed they all met at the pool. Santana stubbornly refused to take her towel off and get in, choosing to sit on the edge with her feet in instead. "Why baby? Get in with us!" Brittany whined, splashing Ella up and down in the water. "Tell Mami to get in the pool."

"Mama! Mami! Mama!" Ella screeched, making everyone laugh.

"See San. She's insisting."

"Britt I can't take this towel off."

"Why?"

"I look indecent. The top is way too small."

"Just take it off. I'm sure it's fine." Santana hesitated for another moment before pulling the towel off, showing that she was spilling out of the bikini top. Brittany's jaw went slack and she was about a half second away from drooling.

"Put it back in your pants babe, you're holding our child." Brittany just rolled her eyes before reaching her arm out, grabbing Santana's, and pulling her in.

The next few hours, Ella was passed around between the four of them, and seemed to be having an excellent time. She was all smiles and laughter. Santana was standing with Quinn watching Brittany and Rachel play pass the baby, seeing her so lively and happy was such a stark contrast to the little girl they used to know. "You can't even know Q. I almost wish you had seen Ella before. I can't believe how much, even in spite of everything going on, Ella has changed in the past few days. She hardly ever made a sound. She spent most of her time sleeping. There were so many signs that things weren't going well in her life and I ignored all of them in favor of not wanting to believe people really mistreated their children. I mean I know they do, I know children are abused all the time. But I thought there would be marks. I never thought about how terrible neglect would be for a child, all the damage it could do." Quinn smiled sadly at her friend.

"I know. And it's terrible, what she had to go through. But look at her now. She's perfect San, you two love her so much. And she has Rachel and I as well. It seems as though that's most of what she needs to repair the past, is to just be loved. Don't dwell. I doubt she will." As if she intended to prove Quinn correct, Ella chose that moment to yell for Santana, reaching out and making grabby hands like she wanted Santana to hold her.

As soon as Santana took Ella into her arms she buried her little wet face in Santana's neck. "Oh, somebody's sleepy now." She turned around to confirm with Rachel that they were ready to get out of the pool when she saw one of Rachel's bodyguards walking quickly towards them.

"I found something in the car." He said quietly to Rachel but not quiet enough because Santana over heard. Rachel glanced over in her direction.

"Wait what car?" She felt her heart rate speed up and tightened her hold on the baby. "Rachel what's going on?" She felt a hand press into the small of her back, calming her only slightly.

"Please don't get upset with me. I just wanted the guards to check through your car. To see if there was anything there that might be helping those people follow you. You said you weren't sure how they knew where you were. So I thought..."

"This isn't something you can just go around telling people about Rachel. How do we know we can trust him? What if-"

"Ma'am I would never do anything to jeopardize your family. I've been working for Rachel well before she met Quinn or this situation ever came up. And I didn't tell another soul, I swear to you."

"Calm down. They are trying to help us." Brittany spoke calmly in her ear. Santana nodded.

"Ok. What did you find?"

"Exactly what Rachel and I suspected after she explained the situation to me. A small tracking device."

"Did you destroy it? What do we do?" Brittany asked, fear evident in her voice.

"On top of it ma'am. I hope you don't mind me taking action without consulting you. We left the tracking device in the car, and it is being driven out to the middle of the desert in New Mexico. Even if they continue trying to track the car and look for you, it's going to lead them in the wrong direction."

"That's pretty genius." Santana admits, feeling her heart rate slowly return to normal.

"I'm not head of security for nothing ma'am. Let me know if you need anything else." He smiled politely and walked back out of the room.

"I think we need to put Ella down for a nap." Brittany says, moving them all into action. Before long, Santana and Brittany are in their room with Ella sleeping on their bed.

"We have to go. They know we are here." Santana moves to start packing things that are lying on the floor. Brittany grabs her arm before she gets very far.

"No San. Please wait a second. Let's talk about this." Santana sits on the bed and looks at Brittany expectantly. "We can't just keep leaving every time we get scared. Ella can't live like that and neither can we. Look how amazing she's been doing since we've been in one place even though it's only been a couple of days."

"I know we can't keep leaving. I know we have to stop Brittany. I just...what am I supposed to do? How am I supposed to keep the both of you safe in a place where it's very likely they know where we are? What if they're watching us?"

"We protect us. This is not something that falls on your shoulders alone. We do this together. And what if it wasn't the bad guys? What if it was the person that's been helping us? He's had to know where we are too." Santana just shakes her head.

"We can't take that risk." Brittany takes a deep breath before sitting next to Santana on the bed.

"Ok. But we're not leaving without a plan. An end of the line, no more traveling plan. I'm not compromising Ella's health or our sanity any more. So we make a plan, or we don't leave." She says gently, yet firmly.

"Ok. What-" They hear a quiet knock on the door. "Come in."

Quinn opens the door just enough to stick her head in. "Is everything ok?"

"Yeah. We're just trying to figure a few things out."

"Why don't we all talk it out together? You guys don't need to do this alone any more. Maybe some input will help." She tries. Santana hesitates before agreeing. She stands up and grabs a blanket before gently picking up Ella, who doesn't even stir. They all walk into the living room and Santana lays Ella down on the couch next to her, covering her with the blanket.

Rachel walks in only moments later carrying bottles of water for everyone. For a moment they all just sit and look at each other awkwardly. "We have to go." Santana starts. Might as well just jump right into it. "We could never thank you two enough, but we have to go. We can't stay here knowing that someone knows we are here."

"Where will you go?" Quinn asks the obvious question.

"We don't know. That's what we're trying to figure out. We know we can't keep moving like this forever." Brittany says, while taking Santana's hand into hers.

"I don't know where the safest place to go is. Sometimes I think we should move to the middle of nowhere. Somewhere they would never find us. But I don't know how hard they are looking. And it's not like where we lived before was a booming metropolis and look what happened. Plus what would we do in the middle of nowhere? Safety is my number one concern. But happiness is number two." Santana pauses for a second, trying to keep her emotions in check. "It's just so much to think about."

"I don't think the middle of no where is an excellent option." Quinn decided after thinking for a few moments. "I'm trying to be optimistic by deciding that there is no reason for them to continue looking for you, because if I let myself think someone is still looking, I don't know how I'll ever sleep again. But, if they are, I think going to a place where you're miles away from anything, and without the ability to build a network of people you trust is too risky."

"I hope you're right Quinn. I hope they've given up. But I agree with you. I think middle of no where isn't the best option, as amusing as it is to try to imagine Santana on a farm." Brittany squeezes Santana's hand affectionately. "But I guess then that leaves the obvious question still unanswered. Where should we go?" They spend the next ten minutes going back and forth on the merits of different cities and where someone would be the least likely to look for them.

"I have an idea." Rachel spoke up after being uncharacteristically quiet. "I'm not sure why I hadn't thought of this right away. I have an apartment. It's three bedrooms, furnished, and paid for. I haven't been there in years, but I pay someone to deal with the upkeep. I lived there during the filming of a movie, but liked it too much to sell it when the movie wrapped."

"The Portland apartment?" Quinn asked, and Rachel nodded. "Rachel that's perfect. Portland is a big enough city, but not completely obvious. And the apartment building has twenty-four hour security. It's further from us than I want you to be, but we could fly up there, or fly you down here any time."

"I-" Brittany hesitates, looking at Santana, who looks a tiny bit hopeful. "I think that sounds great. I'm sure we wouldn't be able to pay you what it's worth right away but we have some money and we'll work-" Rachel waves her off.

"First of all, the apartment is already paid for. Second, we really don't need the money. Plus, we're family now, right? After all of this. And you are supposed to let your family help you when you need it." Santana felt her heart constrict a little at the honest expression on Rachel's face. This woman who barely knows them, has done so much to help them. She was just the partner of Santana's best friend, whom they hadn't even spoken to often as of late, and she's already calling them family.

"Yeah Rach. We're family." Santana responds.

"I'm going to hug you now." Rachel says enthusiastically while jumping up to hug them, but still being careful not to wake the baby.

"We can't leave tonight. I think Ella needs another good night sleep. And I guess as of this afternoon we no longer have a car." Brittany thought out loud.

"Right. I think we'll have enough to buy a used one out right."

"Or you can take mine."

"We can't do that Quinn. Again, you've done too much."

"You'd be doing me a favor, honestly. I don't know why I bought a black car while living somewhere that gets so much sun. I've been meaning to buy a new one anyway. We'll deal with the paperwork in the morning."

"We'll pay you back some day." Santana says quietly, not sure how they ever would be able to.

"Just promise us we can visit any time we want. And that you'll text me at least once a day so I'll never have to worry."

"Shit we need to get phones." That reminded Santana.

"We can do that tomorrow while we're dealing with the car."

"Ok. But I'm paying. You can't do us any more favors." Quinn laughed at the sound of protest Rachel made. "I'm serious guys."

"Fine. But presents aren't favors." Rachel huffed, and nobody bothered arguing with her.

The next morning Santana got up before Brittany. She could hear Ella already awake and babbling to her toys over the monitor. That didn't surprise her, she had gone to bed almost as soon as they had finished giving her dinner. Not able to fall back asleep herself, she got up and went across the hall to where Ella's portable crib was. "Good morning my little love." She said sweetly as Ella smiled brightly up at her. After changing Ella and putting her hair into two little pigtails she took her into the kitchen.

"What do you say we try to make some breakfast for mama and auntie Quinn and Rachel?" Santana asked Ella. She went through the pantry and found everything she needed to make pancakes. "Perfect. Your favorite." She mused as Ella played with her necklace. She went to the living room and got a blanket and set Ella down onto it, giving her some plastic bowls and cups to play with.

"What are my girls doing?" Brittany asked brightly as she walked into the kitchen a few minutes later. Santana startled only slightly.

"Making pancakes for everybody. Ella is working on her percussion skills. I think she might be a drummer."

"Last night you thought she was an astronaut because she was looking at the stars." Brittany joked.

"She can be anything. She's brilliant." Santana beamed down at their daughter. Sometimes that word hit her. It felt so natural. She knew what they were now, a family, and that Ella was their precious little thing. But not so long ago, she didn't have a daughter and now she does. Even though it's wonderful, sometimes it's still a bit strange. Brittany kept on eye on the baby, which made the pancakes go a lot faster. Before long both Rachel and Quinn had joined them, and they were sat down to eat.

"What time do you want to go today?" Quinn asked.

"I guess earlier would be better. Do you two want to come Britt?" Santana added some more banana chunks to Ella's plate.

"I think we'll stay home, if you're ok with that. I can take Ella swimming maybe and just have a quiet day before we get on the road."

"Sounds good baby."

An hour later Santana and Quinn were on there way to get the car figured out as well as new cell phones. She can't help but be nervous about what's going to show up as far as her records go. But everything goes smoothly. And before long they are on their way back to the house. "When do you think you'll leave?"

"We talked about it in bed last night. I think early tomorrow, and we'll do a long day tomorrow, stay in a hotel somewhere just a few hours outside of the city. Get up the next day, drive the rest of the way so we have time to unpack and get Ella settled so we can start getting a routine set up for her. She's done so well, all things considered, but I know this is still having a negative impact on her."

"Considering what she came from, I think this life probably seems wonderful."

"Yeah, but I don't want her to have a good life compared to what she had. I want her to have a good life period. I want her to grow up happy and healthy and not like this."

"I'm proud of you. The way you're handling this. How strong you've been."

"I don't know about strong. Brittany is the strong one. I panic and act. She does most of the thinking between the both of us. But it wasn't ever a question of whether or not Ella was worth it. I would die for either of them."

"I know you would." Quinn says sincerely. "But I hope we never have to put that to the test. I can't tell you how happy it makes both of us that you trusted us enough to come to us. And I hope you know we will do anything we can to help you." Santana didn't trust herself to respond verbally, so she reached over and squeezed Quinn's hand briefly and whispered a quiet thanks.

The rest of the day went by without event. They packed everything up and loaded it all into the car. They programmed Quinn, Rachel, and the head of Rachel's security team into their phones. Rachel had already called the apartment building and set everything up with them. All they had to do was get there now.

For the first time since this whole adventure started, Santana and Brittany laid in bed that night talking about the future in an optimistic way. Classes and playgroups they wanted to sign Ella up for. What kind of jobs they wanted to get. No prevailing sadness or fear clouded their thoughts as they held each other thinking about how lovely life might be again for them in the not so distant future.

The next morning, after saying their goodbyes, and thank you's that would never quite cover the gratitude they felt, they left. Ella wasn't happy about being locked in her car seat again, but she had more toys to occupy her, and even a mini DVD player that hooked onto the back of their seat with an array of Disney movies that Rachel just "happened to have lying around". But even that didn't keep her distracted for more than a couple hours when she realized that they were back to driving long distances again. It pained Santana that she didn't have the ability to help Ella understand that this wasn't going to last long. It was only two more days and then, she vowed, no long car trips for at least several months. "We should get one of those good strollers." She mused, as Ella had finally cried herself to sleep again. "I'm sick of being in the car too. Rachel said there was a lot of stuff within walking distance."

"We could. But we probably would end up just pushing it while carrying her anyway. She loves being held."

"She deserves to be held as much as she wants."

"Agreed. But we also need to make sure that we aren't trying to make up for things that other people did to her." Santana nodded, completely already seeing her tendencies to spoil Ella. "You might even have to yell at her some day." Brittany joked.

Santana looked in the mirror to where Ella was sleeping in the back seat. "We'll see. Maybe that will be your job." She joked back.

By time they stopped for the night they were all exhausted, even Ella who had slept most of the day. After a quick dinner at the diner next door, they settled in for the night. An intense game of Peek A Boo was developed where Santana would hide behind one side of the bed and every time she jumped up to yell Peek A Boo, Brittany and Ella would throw rolled up socks at her. Ella thought this game was hysterical.

The next morning was even harder on Ella. She kicked and screamed when they tried to get her into her car seat in a way that Brittany and Santana weren't used to. Her little face was bright red and covered in tears. Santana wasn't fairing any better as she sat in the back with Ella while Brittany drove, trying to calm her down. They didn't even stop to eat. It was only five hours till Portland and they had enough snacks to keep them fed till they got into the city. After the initial melt down getting into the car, she would periodically get extremely upset, and cry herself out. Brittany and Santana were both very happy that this was going to be the last day.

When they got within the city limits of Portland Santana felt herself getting more and more excited. Spending time with Quinn and Rachel had been great, but it hadn't felt like home. Things were still unsettled. They didn't have a plan. But now she felt like they were going home. Even if the house technically belonged to Rachel. The GPS finally alerted them that they would be arriving at their destination as they drove up to a very nice looking apartment building. "I'll run in and ask if there's anything we need to do before we park. You just drive around the block a few times and try to keep her asleep for just a little bit longer." She got out and gave Brittany a quick kiss through the window.

She already had the keys to the apartment, but she was sure there was still some sort of process they would have to go through. She walked up to the front desk and gave them her name and briefly explained the situation. "Miss Berry has dealt with most of the paperwork already you are to be listed as acting owner of the apartment. We just need you to sign here. I'll need you and your wife to come down sometime within the next few days to get ID cards for your convenience, so you won't have to stop at security every time you come and go."

"So unless you have an ID, you can't get in?" Santana asked, wanting to understand the level of security.

"You will have an apartment list that you add names to, and so long as those individuals present acceptable identification, then they will be allowed to go up to your apartment without verification from the apartment owners. Normally people add babysitters or family members to that list. You also have the ability to add people to a temporary list. So if you're having friends over for an evening, you can add them, but that list goes away every twenty-four hours. Other than those two scenarios, which you have control over, anyone that comes into the building without building ID, has to be verified by the tenant. Security will call and ask if the person is allowed to come up, you can allow them to, you could turn them away, or you can come down and get them if you're still unsure. You are in complete control. We are just here to facilitate your safety ma'am." Santana couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief.

"Thank you so much. For now I would just like to add Rachel Berry and Quinn Fabray to the list, if that's fine."

"Not a problem ma'am. You have two parking spots in the underground garage, I'll write those down for you as well as the garage code. We will have remotes made up for you shortly for that as well. We sincerely hope you enjoy it here. If you need anything at all, don't hesitate to call the front desk."

"Actually do you have a cart of some kind we could borrow? So we only have to make one trip."

He showed her to a closet where there were several carts like the kind you find at a hotel to carry your luggage up. She wheeled one out and waited for Brittany to pull back into the unloading area. They got everything loaded up and Ella out of her seat. She clung to Santana, but smiled shyly at the security guard who was trying to make her laugh as she stood waiting for Brittany to park the car. She couldn't help but feel like they were really going to be happy here.

Once Brittany came in and introduced herself to security, the headed up in the elevator. "It's so nice here." Brittany commented. "I can't imagine how much this place costs."

"I can't either. But I'm not going to think about it. I'm just going to accept the positives that have come out of this situation, and know that if Rachel or Quinn needed our help, we would do anything we could to help them as well. It makes it easier to not feel so guilty about everything they've done for us."

"You're right." Brittany kissed her cheek, and Ella's, just as the door opened to their floor. Each floor only had a few apartments, and they walked to the one at the end of the hall that had their number on it. "Ready?" Brittany asked as she dug the key out of her pocket.

Santana nodded. "Ready to go inside Ella?" Ella nodded her head as well, mimicking her mother. "Looks like we're ready then." Brittany pushed open the door and they walked into their apartment. It was beautiful. Open, but not too big. The furniture was all nice and it looked modern. It wasn't all that different in style from Rachel and Quinn's house in LA. There was some definite baby proofing to be done, and places where Santana knew Brittany would be dying to add some of their own sense of style. But it was already pretty close to perfect.

They left the cart in the middle of the room, before they started exploring the rest of the house. The first room they came to was the master bedroom. The bed was massive and there was an ensuit bathroom, much to Santana's excitement. The room directly across was a pretty sparsely decorated office. The last room was a spare bedroom. "I think the office directly across from our room should be Ella's." Brittany observed.

"We could probably arrange most of that stuff in other area's of the house. It's so perfect Britt. Just enough size. We don't need any more room than this."

"And the security seems really good." Brittany noted. "While I was driving around the block I saw a lot of really great looking restaurants and even a grocery store." Santana smiled at her, putting Ella down to let her walk around. "It almost feels too good to be true." She added.

"Don't think like that Brittany. I had the same thought, but we need this. We need to think about good things and get excited about little things like grocery stores. I'm not saying I'm going to be able to let go of the fear any time soon. But we need to start some kind of plan to get back to normal. For us, and Ella." She leaned in and kissed Brittany gently.

"We need to call Rach and Quinn."

"That's what you think about when I'm kissing you?" Santana joked. Brittany just dug her phone out and dialed Quinn's number and put it on speakerphone.

"Hey! Is everything going ok?" Quinn answered.

"Perfect Q." Santana answered. "We're here. We haven't unpacked but we've looked around and we couldn't be more happy or thankful."

"It is a really great area. I'm excited to come visit. Rachel has a break in her schedule in a couple weeks. We were thinking about coming up there."

"That sounds awesome." Brittany answered. "You can stay in our guest room." She joked.

"So you're turning the office into Ella's room?"

"Yeah. It has the least amount of furniture, plus it's right across the hall." Santana answered as she helped Ella stand up. "We just need to get a few things, a crib and what not. She can't sleep in the portable crib forever."

"About that..." Quinn said, sounding guilty.

"What?" Brittany asked.

"Well, Rachel may have a small shipment of things coming to you tomorrow morning. She explicitly told me to remind you that gifts aren't favors. And she's allowed to send gifts." They all laughed lightly.

"Fine but this is the last unprompted gift. You tell her from here on out normal gift giving days only. Ok?"

"I'll try. It's hard to reign her in sometimes."

"I can imagine."

"Well, I'll let you both go. Give Ella a kiss for us and make sure you keep the baby pictures coming. I want at least one a day."

"San has taken about four million of her already so that won't be a problem." She kissed Santana's blushing cheek. "Talk to you tomorrow!"

That night, while they lay in bed, Ella between them sound asleep, Santana felt so happy she could cry. "It feels over Britt. I feel like I'll be able to sleep well tonight."

"Me too. Is it weird that I'm excited to go grocery shopping tomorrow?"

"Nope." Santana answered simply. She rolled onto her side, reaching out so she could hold both Ella and Brittany. "Hey Britt?"

"Yeah?"

"Welcome home."


	9. Chapter 9

Three Years Later

"Mami watch these moves!" Ella yells as soon as she walks into the room. She's wearing a pink tutu over her blue leotard with gold stars on it (you can probably guess who gave her that one) and green striped tights. She knows for a fact Ella dressed herself in this combination, and they let her do it because why do they care if she doesn't match so long as she's happy? But honestly it wouldn't have surprised her if Britt had dressed her. She got her fabulous sense of style from her. Santana smiled as she watched her daughter do a very enthusiastic, and not particularly graceful spin and fall down on her butt.

"Great job baby! You're going to be running this place soon. You're almost as good as Mama." Ella nodded seriously, and Santana laughed before walking into the office area to give Brittany a kiss.

"How were your classes today?" Brittany asked, playing with the hem of Santana's tank top.

"Good. I'm thinking about maybe starting another one. My class sizes are getting bigger than I'd like."

"Because you're the best teacher." Brittany praised, running her thumbs over the skin on Santana's stomach under her tank top.

"Mmmm." Santana hummed, kissing Brittany again. "Last class of the day right?" Brittany nodded. "Mind if I sit in the back and watch. It's pretty hilarious watching Ella try to keep up with the older kids."

"You just want to watch me shake it."

"Can you blame me?" Brittany shook her head no before taking Santana's hand and pulling her into the room. This was Brittany's sixteen and up hip hop class. It was Ella's favorite to sit in on, and absolutely hilarious to watch her do. As the room started to fill up with everyone who took the class, Santana settled back against the wall. It was times like this (and a lot of other times honestly) as she watched Brittany and their daughter doing something they love to do that she can't help but get a little emotional over how far they've come, and how they got here.

It hadn't been easy. No matter how much they both wanted to get to a "normal" place, they both found it extremely difficult to get there. When they first arrived in Portland they would leave the house to go grocery shopping, or to a park near by but that was about it. They made no attempts at making friends or building a life, all of the things they had desperately wanted to do, and talked about doing often. It wasn't until Quinn brought up that Ella really needed to be around other children, and forming relationships with other people, that they were able to break out of their fear to make sure their child had a normal up bringing.

Santana thought that perhaps if she felt better prepared to protect her family, she would be less nervous about going out in public more often. She signed up for a self-defense at a local gym. She and Brittany looked through their listing of classes, and signed her and Ella up for a mommy and me yoga classes that went on at the same time as Santana's class. And that's how it started, little by little, day by day, they went out more, and developed relationships with the people around them.

Shortly after they had settled in, Brittany expressed some interest in starting a small dance studio, it had always been a dream of hers. Santana readily agreed, and they threw themselves into planning and opening a small studio a few blocks away from their apartment. It wasn't very big, and would only afford them the ability to teach a few classes a day, but those classes were filled quickly. They offered a series of free classes so that people in the neighborhood could see how wonderful Brittany was at teaching children, and word of mouth took care of the rest.

One night while lying in bed Brittany turned to Santana and asked her what she wanted to do. "What do you mean?"

"I mean, we are doing fine at the studio, I could hire someone to keep the schedule and work the front desk. You don't need to be there if you don't want to. I feel like so much of our lives together as been about us doing something because I wanted or needed to do it. The day care, the dance studio. What about you?" Santana thought about it for a minute, and while she knew Brittany was right, she also knew she wouldn't change anything.

"I feel like I have what I want. I have a beautiful wife and a beautiful daughter."

"And I know that's enough to make anyone happy. But there has to be something else."

"I guess...there is something. It's kind of stupid."

"Nothing you say is stupid Santana. What is it?"

"I think I would like to get my certification to teach self defense classes. I've really loved my classes and I'm good at it. I think it would make me happy to be able to teach other people how to keep themselves safe." Brittany smiled at her beautiful selfless wife.

"I think that's a great idea."

Originally they intended to make room in their schedule at the studio for Santana to teach a couple of classes a week. But as soon as she expressed interest to some friends at the gym, they had offered her a few slots there. So she taught three classes. Two for adults, and one for children. Which was something new and not many gyms in the Portland area taught, so it was a popular class.

Their most important accomplishment though is Ella. She is so happy, and so bright. She was already starting to read, which given her developmental delays as a baby, was nearly a miracle. She held almost no signs of all of the neglect that she suffered through as a baby. She was pretty small for her age, but not alarmingly so. She also had some trouble sleeping, and spent at least a few nights a week crawling into her mother's bed. And while they would probably be reprimanded by child raising experts, it wasn't something they were prepared to tell her she wasn't allowed to do. The only rule was that she had to knock first. That rule came about after she had almost walked in on them one night.

They also haven't told her that she's adopted. They know that it's something they'll have to do some day, but Ella has no memory of not living with them, and telling her could put them in danger. Her birth certificate lists Brittany as her birth mother, and so they don't want to risk her telling the wrong person and it becoming a problem. It's just not something they bring up very often, at the risk of Ella feeling lied to some day.

Even after all of this time, they still have no idea if people are still looking for them, or if they gave up once they realized they weren't and hadn't gone to the police. They had briefly discussed it after Santana had woken up from a nightmare about someone chasing her through the grocery store. They discussed the possibility that those people had hurt other innocent people, and was it their duty to go to the police? But in the end, they decided that they thought it was safer for their family to not report anything. There was a small amount of guilt involved there, but the knowledge that they were doing what they felt was safest for their family, helped keep those feelings at bay.

They see Rachel and Quinn frequently. They come to Portland more than Santana, Ella, and Brittany travel to Los Angeles. They spend almost all holidays together, and Rachel's fathers have adopted Ella as their granddaughter, which means she gets way more gifts than she needs every holiday, but also just as much love as she deserves. Santana eventually convinced Rachel and Quinn to let her pay them back for the car, but they wouldn't accept a cent for the apartment.

They can't believe how lucky they are.

One of the craziest periods of their lives, and the life long worry aren't anything compared to falling asleep with each other every night, kissing boo boos, making up bed time stories, a fridge plastered with drawings, and a near constant dance party in the kitchen. Ella is the best thing that has ever happened to them, and they will never regret that. Even if Santana has to spend the rest of her life looking over her shoulder.

It will always be worth it.

Every single second.

* * *

><p><strong>AN:<strong> Well, that's it. I am always open to taking prompts of things that you wish I had covered, or if you have questions that can be answered in prompt form...just let me know here or on my tumblr.

Please check out my other stories.

Thank you for reading, it means a lot to me.


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